Made’s entry into insurance marketing
It’s always exciting to take on new clients. New faces, new challenges, new processes – it’s like the really fun phase of a new relationship. The one where you keep finding out cool things about each other, feel excited to meet up and envision the future.
These hours spent getting to understand each other and develop of effective working relationships is a picture of true collaboration.
Stepping into a new industry: becoming an insurance agency
At Made, we love feeling the exciting flush of new client relationships. This was made even better for us earlier this year, when we stepped into insurance marketing. This was an exciting new industry for us.
We’re well-versed in serving tech and financial services clients across multiple industries. We’ve written and designed in a range of powerful niche sectors from FinTech and cybersecurity to hospitality and charity; from automotive and agritech to HR and EdTech. However, our collective insurance marketing agency experience was zero and our general insurance experience stretched to home and car renewals. This world was new to us all.
“We work with multinationals and startups – and ensure that both get the Rolls Royce treatment. It’s one of our superpowers. This means we can leverage successful strategies and tactics from one sector to another. Often, this is in ways they have not been used before. This brings clients fresh thinking and ensures the creative well the team draws from remains topped up with inspiration. All of which means we can better achieve our clients’ goals to connect, resonate and shine.” Andy Purton, Managing Director, Made Agency
The scale of the project, a total ground-up rebrand, was made even larger by the requirement for the Made team to build up a knowledge base on a very specific and niche element of the wider London insurance market.
For any company within insurtech or insurance, marketing might not start very high on the list of priorities. However, as with any other industry, it’s one thing to have a fantastic product or service but it’s quite another thing to ensure that your customers know about it and want to buy it from you. A good marketing plan is key to success.
Partnering with Amarillo
So who was our new partner? Amarillo, an insurtech that develops SaaS solutions to transform the way data is handled in the Delegated Authority (DA) operations. This sector accounts for approximately 40% of the insurance market – and growing – and is ripe for automatisation and fresh thinking.
As an ambitious startup, Amarillo has spent the past four years focussed on developing an excellent product. Now ready to share with the wider market, they needed a trusted partner to help establish the brand and marketing strategy.
The perfect fit of client and agency
It’s so important to us at Made, when it comes to choosing clients to partner with, that as much as we need to be the right fit for the client (and we can’t be for everyone), they also need to be the right fit for us. If we feel that we are not the right partner for a project or customer, then we will not be afraid to say so. This saves a lot of time, money and stress for all parties in the long-term. Honesty is always the best policy.
However, it was clear from these early calls of the synergy between the two teams and our philosophies. They are a passionate team, generous with their time, enthusiastic and receptive to ideas. This made them exactly the type of client we want to work with.
A transformational opportunity
Amarillo’s core product, Fusion, alongside future product releases had the potential to transform operations in the DA space. The opportunity to be part of their growth journey, supporting this transformation and all the while developing our position in a new sector was a fantastic opportunity.
Our sincere belief was that this was a company that had a terrific solution in a sector that needed it. But they needed help with their branding and marketing to help show their solutions off to best effect. We’ve worked with a number of similar stage companies across multiple industries. This meant we had the experience and the box of tricks to help Amarillo achieve their goals.
“From that first call it was obvious that Zoe and Steve had built a really great product for the space. We knew that working with them would be a really collaborative process. Also, for our team, the chance to enter a new sector was brilliant because there was so much to learn. I think we all liked that feeling of being challenged – of discovering so many new things. Insurance marketing was such an exciting space to be moving into.” Kaela Lucchesi, Head of Marketing, Made Agency
We care – the Made promise
Our whole philosophy at Made centres on meaningful, client-centric, collaborative relationships. We execute, of course, but we work best as strategic, creative partners. We find that this level of integration and trust leads to optimised outcomes.
It’s such a central element of our entire working philosophy that it’s built into our values at Made, to truly collaborate and get there (wherever that is for you) together. These are the values we live every day, on every project so it’s important that our clients feel the same way. This ensures smooth, successful project outcomes.
It’s why our promise “we will care about your brand and customers as much as you do” isn’t a gimmick. It’s a promise. The history of the agency is rooted in this outlook – it’s why we started and what guides our every action and interaction, every day.
“When Andy and I set up Made, we were determined to do things differently from what we had experienced at larger, more ‘storied’ agencies. We knew that by showing genuine care for the client and their brand, by becoming an extension of them, the quality of the work and its impact would be far greater. The fact that we’re still doing this nearly 20 years later and this philosophy is still at the core of what we do is proof that it’s right.” Dave Collier, Creative Director, Made Agency
Undertaking the groundwork
Every new client at Made is taken through our 4Ds process: Discover, Define, Deliver, Develop. Working with Amarillo, the Discovery phase was absolutely critical. It was at this foundational stage that the Made team were able to check our burgeoning insurance, industry and competitor knowledge with the experts.
“I’m proud of how we threw ourselves into understanding this world. Insurance marketing has a pretty steep learning curve and lots of new terms and acronyms to get our heads around. Regular sense-checking with the team at Amarillo was key to building our knowledge base and confidence in this area.” Kaela Lucchesi
This foundational period was also critical to clarify what Amarillo needed from this process and who they were targeting.
Fuelled by our understanding of the market, stakeholder preferences and the key buyer personas, our design team set to work. Their task was to create a range of visual branding options that captured the spirit of Amarillo and their corporate energy.
“Creating detailed personas was such an important and enlightening experience. As marketeers, our ability to get inside the head of the target customer and to delve into their motivations and aspirations really helped us to target every message with laser-like precision” Andrew O’Sullivan, Senior Marketing Manager, Made Agency
Creative exploration
The next stage, where Creative Director Dave gets out his colouring pencils, is always the most exciting part of a rebrand. The physical assets that will underpin everything else start to appear from nothing, as if by magic, in front of our eyes.
“It was great to see the new look on the website and the logo popping up on partner pages and event merchandise. It was a sign of how far Amarillo had come. I loved seeing all of the in-depth research and workshopping turn into tangible output that would make a difference” Dave Collier
Message crafting
Ensuring the look, tone and feel was supported by powerful and effective messaging was another critical part of this process. The concepts behind the foundational messaging house were formed from the output of the workshop process. These then acted as the backbone of all messaging assets, from elevator pitch, vision and values, and value proposition to supportive tag lines and all product sub-messaging.
“The phrase “Go Beyond Bordereaux” came from a few conversations where sci-fi and forward-thinking had naturally crept in. It was in those moments that things truly sparked, started to click and come together. There was a synergy between that mindset and the visual direction, and it felt like the right way to reflect Amarillo’s vision: progressive, ambitious, and built for what’s next. More than a line, it pointed to where we want the industry and our clients to go.” Andy Purton
Launching a brand
Once the brand look, tone, feel and voice firmed up, it was time to make it public.
A complete re-skin and optimisation of the existing website with the new look, was followed by a series of launch posts and explainers to share the news. Implementing the carefully planned strategy saw an over 600% increase in social reach and a near 500% increase in social engagement leading to a 75% uptick in website traffic. These impressive figures achieved the aim of increasing brand visibility and using it as a solid base for further brand building activities.
Support marketing – more than just a design service
As their creative and marketing partner, it’s so exciting to see the speed at which Amarillo continues to grow.
In the time we’ve been working with them, we’ve produced a marketing and brand strategy, a set of buyer personas, complete visual and messaging rebrand, social media, events and seen a near 50% increase in social following.
But this is just the start. There are plans for more: more products, more services, more customers, more value, more growth. At Made we’re looking forward to stepping forward with them into this exciting future.
Looking for a partner?
Does this story sound familiar to you? Are you based in EC3 and looking for an insurance marketing partner? Maybe you’re breaking into your industry but need a bit of help to shine a light on what you’re doing.
Perhaps you feel your current branding’s a bit tired. That it’s not working hard enough and could do with a refresh. Have you got a new product that you need some help launching? Or maybe your company’s social game is lacking and you want to bring the sizzle that makes your industry sit up and take notice?
Made can help.
Because whatever your it might be, we can make it happen for you. We’re a specialist creative, branding and digital marketing agency with experience in insurance, and many other industries. Whether you’re looking for brilliant branding, captivating creative or distinctive digital, we’re the creative, strategic partner you need.
Contact the Made team today to find out how we can help you with your next project.
