AIA seeks to improve customer engagement with insurance

As a part of the review – which was conducted by global design and strategy firm Frog – AIA said focus groups were held across Australia to provide feedback on how to improve the relevance of life insurance, which has “traditionally” been a complex and confusing category when researching the subject online.

AIA Australia chief marketing officer Renae Smith said improving the way customers relate to life insurance is vital to ensure relevance of the product category in future.

“We know through extensive research that people aren’t engaged by the subject of life insurance and, perhaps previously, accepted that this might always be the case,” Ms Smith said.

“We’ve traditionally been more product and technology-focused, as opposed to starting from the point of view of the customer.

“What we’re seeing now is that if we can create a more personal and relatable connection to our products and services that appeals to people’s aspirations rather than fears and, in a simple way, we can turn traditional perceptions around in a very compelling fashion."

Ms Smith added that people want to be able to access information quickly and via any device, but if they aren’t appealed to on an emotional level, then the insurer will not be successful in changing perceptions around life insurance.

As part of the enhancements AIA has made, the insurer has relaunched its website along with a simplification of its products and services, access via all mobile devices and tablets, and a semantic search function to enable customers to find answers to questions based on meaning, not just keyword matches.

AIA has also included a new mobile application for AIA Vitality. Linked with fitness devices and a mobile application, the program is prompting a step change in the level of engagement between life insurance and customers.