The undoubted highlight of the Brokers Ireland 2020 Conference, the launch of Insurance Broker as a consumer-facing brand is intended to inject energy and vitality into the public promotion of Insurance Brokers. Our awareness of the expertise that our Members bring to the table and the belief that it should be highlighted and promoted, explains our having devoted significant time and effort to developing Insurance Broker, a synthesis of creativity, expertise and enthusiasm.

We have never been more confident in the value and service provided by our Members and we believe that the brand will be instrumental in enabling Insurance Brokers to make plain their value proposition. As an organisation, we have long been aware of the need to instil greater consumer awareness of the benefits of seeking insurance advice from an Insurance Broker which is essential to attracting new and younger customers.  It is also essential in attracting young talent like the graduate apprentices into the Insurance Broker Profession.  One of the most important impacts of the Financial Broker project was the pride it generated amongst the profession itself.  A vibrant, modern, consumer-facing brand is essential to the survival of the Insurance Broker Profession.  Brokers Ireland have brought this project forward on the general side and, over the months and years ahead, we intend to pour meaning and value into Insurance Broker brand as a key pillar in the revitalisation of the SME Insurance Broker sector. 

Over the coming months, we will be encouraging all Insurance Brokers to get behind the brand and incorporate it into their customer collateral and communications.  Website development with brokerage profile, contact details, products sold and “find a broker” search facility is intended to proceed between January and March 2020. The success of Insurance Broker depends upon our Members’ ongoing participation, as funding has a direct impact on the extent to which we can market and promote Insurance Broker across traditional and new media. Consumer radio and press advertising, digital campaigns, sponsorship opportunities and social media presence will all be possible depending upon commitment from Brokers. 

Insurance Broker is aimed primarily at principal-owned and managed Insurance Brokers, selling products across the general insurance spectrum and providing a “one-stop-shop” and service for all their clients’ insurance requirements. Through the endorsement of Insurance Broker, we will help strengthen and position consumer and industry understanding and perception of our Members.  

We have all seen how the very successful Financial Broker brand has helped to revitalise the customer offering of Brokers on the life and pensions side and the positive impact it has had on consumer awareness and on the industry generally. Financial Broker has now become accepted in the industry and is the term predominantly used to describe Brokers on the life and pensions side.  This has come about through the Financial Broker brand and the concerted effort made to establish it. 

Establishing the term Insurance Broker in the industry and in public consciousness is an integral part of the Brokers Ireland mission to project our Brokers into a new decade, an era of greater awareness of all that an Insurance Broker has to offer. Brokers Ireland has a clear agenda and a vision for our Insurance Brokers, for a thriving industry where the value the Insurance Broker brings is respected by providers and appreciated by the customer. This vision is epitomised by the Insurance Broker brand. 

Our organisational aim is a level playing field for all our Insurance Brokers, with fair agency terms and an end to discrimination against the Broker channel by direct providers.  We view Insurance Broker as being part of this level playing field, as the establishment of a strong, unified, professional identity will help generate acceptance and awareness amongst industry and public and allow Brokers to project and market themselves as a group, all benefiting from the strength in numbers. Imagine every Insurance Brokerage office in Ireland being lit by a Blue Circle outside its premises and having similar language and visuals to promote its services.  As CEO of Brokers Ireland, along with the rest of our team, I am looking forward to working with our Insurance Broker members as we take these first steps on the Insurance Broker branding journey, which we believe to be full of possibilities.