How can insurance be lovable? – Mitch CMO reveals all

“That’s the big question,” said Mitch chief marketing officer Igor Bubic (pictured). “There are several key components in making insurance lovable. The first is how we interact with our customers, ensuring that we answer the phone (or any other communication) in a respectful, pleasant, and kind way, while also being cognizant of people’s backgrounds and their experience with insurance and claims. We also need to be highly responsive and meet the needs of our customers in a quick and efficient manner – that’s a key component of building trust and lovability.”

Another core element of lovability is advocacy, according to Bubic, which is an inherent value proposition of insurance brokers. Ontario-based Mitch is a marketplace for more than 70 of Canada’s top insurance companies, delivering a wide range of personal and business insurance solutions. The brokerage’s broad menu of products and services applies to lovability because it gives customers more choice, the CMO explained.

“Transparency is another important aspect of lovability,” Bubic added. “We currently have auto quoters on our website (mitchinsurance.com), but we’re working on augmenting those quoters by providing peer-to-peer comparisons and an insurance score, where consumers can gain an understanding of how they’re being viewed by the industry and how they can improve their risk profile in order to get the best possible coverage at the best price.”

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Those core components of lovability are nothing new to Mitch – they’ve been central to the family-owned brokerage’s value proposition for many years. However, the firm is now being even more intentional in its focus on exceptional customer service, applying lovability to everything it does from operations and culture to customer relations, community work, partnerships and more.  

This all stems from some research that the Mitch team conducted in 2021 around the future of distribution in Canada. With the rapid pace of consolidation throughout the entire industry, the team found that insurance is increasingly looking the same and the only relevant players were those with scale. So, Mitch announced a commitment in 2021 to grow into a top-20 national brokerage with $1 billion in gross written premiums by 2030, a goal that will require 35% year-over-year growth via organic and inorganic (mergers and acquisitions) means.

While this is a significant growth goal, the brokerage met its target for 2021, experiencing over 36% growth since August 1, 2021, with more than 40% of new business written during the period coming from property, in addition to strong growth in the brokerage’s commercial book.

The rebrand from Mitchell & Whale to Mitch, which was announced on July 15, 2022, is central to the digital brokerage’s growth strategy. Bubic explained: “We wanted to differentiate ourselves with a fresher, friendlier, consumer-facing brand … which lends itself well to the digital nature of our business. The name Mitch is a truncation of Mitchell & Whale, and it’s also the nickname of the founder of the company, our CEO Adam Mitchell’s grandfather. It’s a friendly name that honours the legacy of the company.”

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As part of the rebrand, Mitch has launched a revamped consumer-friendly website, which stands out from the “almost identical carbon copies” that most brokers and insurers use, according to Bubic. He described the new website as simple, transparent, consumer-friendly (they can see all of their options on the homepage) and it uses “imagery, language, and identity that is unique for the insurance industry”.

In the coming months, Bubic said Mitch will be spending significant time examining and replacing pain points in the customer journey. The brokerage has invested in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) to automate simple day-to-day tasks, leaving more time for Mitch brokers to fulfil their advisory role and to focus on operational excellence, business development and growth.

“We’re looking to influence and ultimately change the narrative around insurance,” said Mitch CEO, Adam Mitchell. “By believing in what’s possible and daring to imagine where things can go, we know we can create an experience that people will truly love and a new service benchmark for this industry. Our rebrand is the foundation for many exciting things to come.”