The marketing industry has already dabbled in sharkvertising, madvertising, nudevertising and even sleepvertising. But there’s always room for more. And for the launch of its insurance offering, Trade Me has probed into the netherworlds of what could be described as analvertising (not to be confused with analyvertising, which refers to ads that provide insightful analyses on pressing social issues).
This new sub-category of the ever-growing encyclopedia of marketing experimentation is introduced through a series of irreverent spots by Assignment Group, during which Trade Me makes the point that the paperwork and admin involved with insurance can (quite literally in this case) be a pain in the butt.
Trade Me chief executive officer Jon Macdonald says the insurance offering is premised on simplicity.
“We’ve built a streamlined online insurance experience that is as useful and intuitive as possible, with a focus on the buyer,” Macdonald says. “We’re also making sure that members of the Trade Me community get a particularly good deal so they’ll enjoy a 15 per cent discount on premiums from day one.”
The user-friendly positioning is also reflected a trio of online videos that each explain home, content and car insurance in 60 seconds.
The insurance products sold through Trade Me are all facilitated through Tower, and the insurance company’s chief executive David Hancock welcomed the initiative, which he said had been built from scratch through the partnership between the two organisations.
“Today’s launch is a real milestone for us,” Hancock said in a release. “We’re focused on meeting changing customer expectations around insurance online, and investing heavily in the development of digital infrastructure. What’s most exciting about Trade Me Insurance is that it offers general insurance customers an end-to-end digital solution from quote to claim, and gives customers greater flexibility and choice.”
This end-to-end digital solution will, however, not be applied universally across the country, with Stuff reporting that Cantabrians would have to call in to confirm if they qualified for home insurance in certain regions.
Trade Me Insurance will be led by Conor Sligo and Tim von Dadelszen, the general managers of Trade Me’s current LifeDirect insurance comparison website, which the online trading site acquired in 2013.
Macdonald said Trade Me Insurance was part of Trade Me’s selective forays into financial services.
“This seemed like a natural extension for us into an area where we could do something to change things up. We’ve made some investments in financial services already, having acquired LifeDirect in 2013 and buying a stake in peer-to-peer lender Harmoney in January this year.”
