The following release gives you some insight into DRTV’s role in CIGNA’s business strategy in Thailand.

CIGNA Insurance Announces 2011’s Key Business Strategies

and Launches New DRTV to sell “1 Care 2” Policy Plan

Posted by on March 3, 2011

Bangkok–3 Mar–CIGNA Insurance

Management, and Direct-to-Consumers Channels integration. The Company sets to launch new Direct Response TV Commercial to offer “1 Care 2” policy aiming to tap the family generation for the 2 consecutive year. CIGNA Thailand targets Y2011 Sales from all channels to exceed THB 1.5 Billion.

Mr. Gary Wayne Denson, Chief Executive Officer & Country Manager, CIGNA Insurance Public Company Limited, an expert in affinity-based telemarketing and direct distribution business specializing in Personal Accident and Health insurance products in Thailand said that the Company has again been successful in its sales mission which has grown over 300% during Y2008-2010, owing to its continued successful implementation of the first three-year strategic road map since Y2008. To continue its success in Y2011, the Company focuses its key strategies on 3 initiatives which are:

1)  Affinity Business Partnerships: to increase the numbers of major Business Partners (BPs) and to expand a horizontal penetration within existing BPs. The Company aims to bring the Insurance more closer to Thai people through various marketing campaigns with BPs such as the campaign that CIGNA has partnered with GSM advance to offer Personal Accidental Insurance for GSM advance customers free of charge for 3 months.

“Our core business model is based on the affinity partnerships. Therefore, the growth of our business partner numbers is very important to the growth of our business. We’re proud to say that our business partner numbers have tripled over the last 3 years, most of which are the country’s leading financial institutions, plus major companies in the telecom, retail, automotive, and IT sectors” Mr. Denson added.

2.) Customer Value Management (CVM) which is the unique strength of CIGNA around the globe that is used to help CIGNA’s Business Partners to drive effectiveness through targeting relevant and meaningful offers to their customer segments — and where CIGNA’s products meet a buying need. Over time, CIGNA is migrating to a model where its approach integrates the customer, product and channel dynamics. This also enables CIGNA to optimize the customer contact management strategy on behalf of its Business Partners. CIGNA Thailand is striving to utilize this unique selling point with every BP to produce greater customer satisfaction & superior financial results for both CIGNA and BPs.

3.) Synergy of all sales channels, especially Direct—to-Consumer Channels, the channel that creates a direct demand from the consumers which has been another strategic initiative of The Company since early 2008. Being happy with last year’s Direct Response TV (DRTV)’s success, the campaign earned overwhelming response from the Thai consumers, which resulted higher than planned sales value. Thereby, CIGNA Thailand will aggressively pursue the DRTV channel again this year.

“Last year we’ve overwhelmed with about 100,000 incoming calls from airing the DRTV and also achieved THB 100 million sales target (DRTV and Internet); we are extremely satisfied and assume in being the pioneer in Thailand that we have created a movement to the market in this channel significantly. There are number of insurance companies that now play in this channel but focus on a different target groups. For CIGNA Thailand, we are still focusing on the target group of the family generation as last year and we launch “1 Care 2” policy plan to the market today”. said Mr. Denson.

The new DRTV campaign will promote the “1 Care 2” insurance policy, which covers both yourself (a prime insured) and another loved one who is either the prime insured’s father, mother, spouse or son/daughter. The prime insured, aging from 15-59 years old, will be covered with both Personal Accident Insurance Plan and also 5 critical illnesses: Invasive Cancers, Heart Attack, Stroke, Kidney Failure, and Coma ranging from THB 200,000 to THB 800,000, plus reimbursement on medical expenses from an accident, with maximum coverage of 30,000 baht per accident (motorcycling included), with no limit on the number of accidents within the protection period. In addition, CIGNA Care Card will be provided to the insured to allow them to enjoy cash-free payment for medical expenses in case of an accident if the insured receives medical treatment in any of the hospitals under the CIGNA agreed partner network. Moreover, Global Emergency Services 24 hours a day will be provided to the insured, allowing them to have a peace of mind when they travel, anywhere in Thailand and across the globe.

Also, the loved one of the prime insured will be provided the maximum coverage of THB 300,000 lump sum benefit when they suffers loss of life, dismemberment or total permanent disability due to an accident, plus reimbursement on medical expenses from an accident with maximum coverage of 10,000 baht per accident (motorcycling included), with no limit on the number of accidents within the protection period. CIGNA Care Card also provided for 1 year coverage (for those who buy plan 3-5 only). The benefit of covering the loved one will go only to the prime insured who pay the premium by credit card, without any additional cost. The loved one could be the prime insured’s either father, mother, spouse or a child whose age between 1-70 years old. The premium of “1 Care 2” plan starts from 7 baht per day (for the prime insured with age between 15-25 years old and buy the Plan 2.)

In addition to DRTV channel, CIGNA also offers “1 Care 2” plan through the online channel via CIGNA Thailand’s website. It aims to serve the new generation of consumers, who love to purchase products via the online channel. For those who interested in the product can leave their name and phone number on the website, for next step follow up from CIGNA’s telesales specialists who will provide information in detail and complete the sales process.

“CIGNA Thailand will synergize our all sales channel as much as possible whether on telemarketing, internet and other channels which will be launched in the near future to maximize the benefit from every channel to ensure a convenient, easy and enjoyable consumer experience. CIGNA Thailand sets the sales target (ANP) of DRTV and internet in Y2011 to exceed THB 140 Million, which means 40% growth from last year.” concluded Mr. Denson.

For Y2010 overall business performance, CIGNA Insurance Public Company Limited recorded Net Written Premiums as of December 2010 of THB 717 Million, jumping 122 percent from THB 322 Million of Net Written Premiums as of December 2009. Number of Policy in-force is about 570,000 policies as of the end of Y2010. The Company has set the Y2011 sales target (ANP) of all channels of THB 1.5 Billion, 50% growth from Y2010 sales results.

For the original article, please visit http://www.tivarati.com/news/106222

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

Upon reading the article below about ESPN’s expansion into 3-D (in addition to mobile, online, iPads, etc…) the line that jumped out of the article was, “New second and third screens, online, iPad, mobile, are not cannibalizing traditional media. ” Said another way, it would appear that most of the new technology is adding to, not taking from, traditional media.

ESPN Pushes 3-Screen Approach, But TV Still King

Wayne Friedman, Jun 15, 2010

Las Vegas, NV — ESPN isn’t just about all screens all the time; it’s about content producers all working together, which can be rare in media. It’s also about moving fast with new technologies.

“Digital producers sit next to online producers [who] sit next to TV producers,” says George Bodenheimer, president of ESPN Inc. and co-chair of Disney Media Networks, speaking at the Nielsen Consumer 360 conference.

“I don’t believe in silos,” he says. “I hate hearing about silos.”

ESPN recently built the biggest digital-TV facility in Bristol, Conn., which the company believes is the largest facility of its kind in the U.S.

ESPN has been pushing its three-screen approach for some time now — whether it’s traditional TV, online, mobile or the iPad. These businesses are still growing, although the latter is small. “Nearly 10% of the people who watch the World Cup, and who enjoyed, weren’t watching on TV,” he says.

Television remains the big gun for ESPN. “Television is the Mac truck of media usage,” he says. Eighty percent of the sports network viewership comes from TV. New second and third screens, online, iPad, mobile, are not cannibalizing traditional media.

Bodenheimer says 75% of ESPN’s traditional TV usage comes from male viewers, with 85% of ESPN’s new digital video products also consumed by men. But he adds that the network has women users; it’s just that the cumulative usage of men versus women is much higher.

ESPN’s rapid deployment of new technology is necessary — even with doubters. “It’s very easy to throw your hands up [about 3D],” says Bodenheimer. “How big? How fast? What about the glasses? The answer is: We don’t know… [but] if we are going to continue to be leaders, then we must launch [these products].”

Why is this good for DRTV marketers? First, traditional TV media will continue to grow in the near future as the population increases. One only has to count the increasing number of cable/digital networks to bear this out. As we all know, more air time means lower rates, etc…

What’s even more intriguing is the opportunity new media presents for DRTV marketers. While much of the new media is still over-priced on a CPM basis, just imagine the day when those costs come back to reality. Combine these more rational media costs with DRTV’s ability to both utilize video content to drive a response, and track every single spot aired. Based on our experience in new media, that day is fast-approaching.

So get your 3D glasses on, grab your iPad and hold on, it’s going to be a fun ride!

Original article here:  ESPN Pushes 3-Screen Approach, But TV Still King

Bill McCabe is EVP/COO at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.

                          

• Highly measurable
• Easy to target specific demographics
• Platforms that are conducive for response
• Pricing models that allow for low-cost testing

It is true that the emerging media world is very broad and rapidly changing market. In this post I would like to focus on a few of the key areas where emerging media and DRTV overlap:

• Alternate buying platforms (Google TV, Admira)
• Interactive TV (TiVo, RFI)
• Online Video

One reason these all work so well is that they are rooted in the power of utilizing video to drive response and serve as a new way for the ad to generate response.  Alternate buying platforms are the easiest emerging media tool for a DRTV company to grasp.  You are buying the same media and running the same creative, but the buying process is more intelligent due to some very exciting technology from companies like Google and Microsoft (Admira).  We have had great success using these platforms as additional tools in our media tool box.

Interactive TV allows the consumer easily respond to a call-to-action — most often via the click of a remote.  TiVo has proven a very successful tool for our clients.  Their platform is very advertising friendly- especially with the addition of show tags and pause screen tags.  We are now able to advertise on shows that typically are off limits for DRTV clients.  RFI capabilities are currently rolling out on other platforms and should be a great tool to generate cost-effective responses in 2010.

Online video has been the hot medium for the last two years.  Unfortunately, the large growth in online video consumption has not been matched in ad spending by DRTV-minded advertisers. That may change in 2010 as the number of consumers watching longer-length videos increases and the cost of online video ads comes down.  The willingness of ad networks and publishers to test CPC (cost per complete call) and even CPS (cost per sale) pricing is also increasing, which is a very good sign for the DRTV market.

This was just a very brief skim of just a few of the exciting emerging media tools our clients are using to generate immediate, measurable results.  More to come…

Matt Cote is Associate Director of Emerging Media at A. Eicoff & Co., one of North America’s largest DRTV agencies.