From left: Segun Aina, Banker and Technology expert; Funmi Babington-Ashaye, president, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria(CIIN); Remi Babalola, chairman, Law Union and Rock Plc; Isioma Chukwuma, past president, CIIN; and Wale Tinubu, managing director/CEO, SCIB Insurance Brokers during the Quarterly Breakfast Meeting of the CIIN held in Lagos.
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Chuks Udo Okonta
To remain relevant and survive in the future financial services industry, insurance companies must embrace digital transformation.
This, experts said has become necessary in view of changing consumer segment and appetite, which requires that digitalization is quickly embraced to drive changing customer relationships and experiences, redefine value proposition and optimise business models and processes.
Chairman Board of Directors, Law Union And Rock Plc, Remi Babalola, and former Minister of State for Finance, made the remark at the Quarterly Breakfast Meeting of the Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria (CIIN), held in Lagos.
Speaking on the Theme “Millennials: Digital Transformation & The Nigerian Insurance Industry”, Babalola, said the Millennials are either critical success or failure factor for the insurance industry both locally and globally depending on how proactive the insurance industry harnesses their positive characteristics.
“Proactive adaptation of their lifestyle or behaviour to innovate products by insurers to match their lifestyle needs will significantly change the landscape of the insurance industry,” he noted.
According to him, with 92 million segment of the population as active users of the mobile phone, insurance business communication needs to change in order to achieve phenomenal growth in the insurance industry and financial service sector.
“Babalola also warned that, “If your brand doesn’t show up in online search, Millennials are not likely to take you seriously.
“Information available shows that the Millennials have the capacity and are in fact influencing purchasing decisions as well as how companies conduct business.” “Insurers must therefore be ready to tailor their marketing strategies to align with the digital natives in order to achieve improved performance,” he said.
He further stated that the insurance industry needs to embrace the strategic significance of social channels. “We need to be where the customer is and be part of the conversation where they interact, exchange opinions and levy complaints.”
“Insurance companies would need to allocate resources to study millennials’ habits and employ effective marketing strategies to sell multiples strands of insurance. Since they engage in a sharing economy, we may need to think of how to insure space and time.”
Funmi Babington-Ashaye, President, Chartered Insurance Institute in her welcome remarks, said one key factor that has impacted the way business is done and value is communicated to consumers today is information technology.
She said the emerging generation of workforce and consumers are now tech-savvy and require online real time information on products and their offerings.”
Babington-Ashaye stated that the industry appears to be left behind by the changing needs and preferences of our consumers.
“Put simply, the social media has impacted the ways of life of our potential target market, so we must therefore arise to bridge this digital divide between us and our potential target market in order to stay relevant,” she added.
She said the industry needs, as a collective, to brain storm, share ideas and evolve new strategies for repositioning the insurance business.
