Yemisi Izuora
The rebranding exercise of the Insurance Industry which is aimed to create more awareness and to deepen Insurance penetration in the country will kick start in the first quarter next year.
This exercise according to Toye Odunsi, the Managing Director of Custodian and Allied Insurance, who briefed the Press on behalf of the Insurance Committee yesterday, has the Support of NAICOM and all the other stakeholders in the Industry and is also aimed to change the perception of the public about Insurance, and to increase awareness even to the grassroots.
He said that the committee is working with a consultant to help in the rebranding processes, and that the rebranding will not be Products based because all the companies are collaborating and working together to see to the success of this rebranding in all areas.
Odunsi further said that media will be carried along in this campaign for wider coverage, adding that a lot of advertisements in prints, electronics, social media and translation of the messages into local languages will be used to spread the message of the campaign. He said that social media like Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp etc will be used to reach out to the youths, since a lot of Nigerian youths thrives on social media and the population of Nigeria is tilting towards the youths.
Stressing further On the collaboration between NAICOM and the operators, he said that agreement has been reached to broadened the Chanel of distribution and NAICOM has promised that before the end of the year, there will be release of guidelines of new channels of distribution to increase penetration and ensure easy access to insurance in the country.
It would be recalled that the Commissioner for Insurance Mohammed Kari, while speaking recently said these distribution channels would support Insurance referral model which is already in place and will enable insurers penetrate the grassroots. The commission recently released draft guidelines on independent agent, mutual, associations, community and state government financial advisor, which it believes will also help deepen insurance retail market.
“These channels will increase accessibility to insurance products, so that majority of the population can access the product as part of their financial planning.” The Commissioner said.
Odunsi however urged all the Insurance companies and the stakeholders in the industry to pay their commitments early to enable smooth take off of the project.