‘Partnership’ the key to success for Howatson+White and Allianz
The new brand campaign from Allianz Australia is more than just a fresh piece of work for the 100+ year old insurer, it is the foundations of a deep partnership between Allianz Australia and new agency Howatson+White.
“It has been a true partnership,” Allianz Australia, general manager marketing, Sophie Finn told Mumbrella. “Ant and Chris have been hands-on all the way through this and it has been an absolute collaborative team effort.”
Allianz was revealed as the foundation client for Chris Howatson and Ant White’s eponymous creative agency, Howatson+White, in March, just a few months after the pair departed CHE Proximity to launch their own offering. The agency was appointed with a full-service remit, working across Allianz’s marketing including creative, PR, CRM, shopper and digital.
The news came shortly after it was revealed that the insurer had parted ways with chief market manager, Nicholas Adams. Long-time Allianz Australia executive, Michael Winter, was then named chief general manager consumer, to encompass the role held previously by Adams. Meanwhile, general manager marketing Finn joined Allianz Australia in late 2019, after stints at CBA, Origin and Interbrand.
Sophie Finn
“Howatson+White have been incredible partners all the way through this, and what is setting them apart, is they are highly strategic and take a really strong business and strategy lens, and that flows all the way through to creative,” Finn told Mumbrella.
According to White, the team at Allianz, have given the new agency the confidence to deliver quality work.
“The Allianz team really championed us to push this campaign to be emotional and emotionally salient. That has been our mission the whole time, but it’s the team at Allianz driving it,” he told Mumbrella.
Howatson added: “We were confident to change and go again, and what that represents is incredible maturity in a client organisation to trust in people to get the best outcome. Through that, we have been able to deliver work that we think is going to deliver commercial outcomes for Allianz and cultural outcomes.”
While in some markets around the world insurance is bundled in with salary, in Australia it is a choice, and it is that choice that drove a lot of the strategy for the campaign according to Howatson.
“When you look at market share there is a very different view when you look by state. Allianz is one of the few that are national,” he said.
“What Sophie and her team have navigated is how do you apply a global strategy within the nuances of the local retail market.”
Finn added that the campaign is an illustration of what can be achieved through collaboration.
“When you start to tap into the global expertise and heritage combined with local understanding and nuances, it is an incredibly rich territory to position the brand,” she said.
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Olivia Kruimel is the managing editor at Mumbrella. She has more than 15 years of experience in journalism, communications and marketing. Her journalism career began at Fairfax Media (now part of Nine) and includes various B2B publications such as B&T, Travel Today and ALB. As a marketer Olivia has worked for Standard Chartered and various global law firms.
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