Creative Versioning Boosts Efficiency

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Creative Versioning Boosts Efficiency
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New York Life
Founded in New York City in 1845
One of the oldestlife insurance companiesin America One of the oldestlife insurance companiesin America
New York Life 1845
Mass Mutual 1851
Northwestern 1857
MetLife 1863
Prudential 1875
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Unparalleled Tradition of Financial Strength

• Financial Strength NYL has a history notable
  for steady financial growth. Reaching a record of
  280 billion in assets under management as of
  12/31/07.
• Conservative Tradition- To keep our promise to
  pay, New York Life has historically maintained a
  prudent management philosophy and a conservative
  investment strategy. Almost three quarters of our
  assets are held in bonds, and 92 of that bond
  portfolio is comprised of investment grade bonds.
  
• Mutuality - Being a company solely owned by
  policyowners allows NYL to look past short-term
  goals and manage for the long-term interest of
  its clients.
• Assets Under Management consists of assets the
  Companys domestic and International insurance
  operations and assets the Company manages for
  third party investors, including mutual funds and
  pension plans.

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Group MembershipAssociation Division

• Recognized leader in providing life and health
  insurance products to membership associations
  with over 50 years of experience and commitment
  to the marketplace.
• First case written in 1955 (Still a valued
  business partner!)
• Diversified Portfolio of Products
• Long term commitment to Affinity/Association
  market
• More than 600 Association/Affinity Group
  endorsements
• Distribution Primarily Through 40 Broker/TPA
  organizations

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Group Membership Client Profile

• Types of Groups Insured
• Professional Associations Military
  Associations
• Union Groups/Labor Unions Alumni Associations
• School Districts Financial Institutions
• Educational Associations Employer Groups

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The Marketing Reality

• 600 Association/Affinity relationships
• Marketing collateral all over the board
• Lots of product customization
• Multitude of creative packages
• Clients develop their own direct mail packages
• Time intensive development and review process
• Workload heavy for key internal resources

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Examples of Creative Variables

• Even within a single product
• Client name, address, contact info, logo
  Standard versioning
• General State disclosures and NYL specific state
  requirements
• Royalty language
• Domestic partner
• The 4 NOTS - GLB (financial institution clients)
• Client look and feel requirements
• Plan benefits (i.e. Underwriting limit max 1MM,
  2MM - termination age)
• Grace period pay your premiums within the
  grace period OR the end of the grace period.
• Where marketed excluded states or addition
  jurisdictions (PR and Canada)
• Creative for different channels/purposes
  fulfillment package, direct mail, desk drop

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Traditional Process
Existing Product
Submission
Submission
NYL Client Services
NYL Compliance
Changes Comments
Broker/Third Party Administrator (TPA)
Creative Agency
Changes
Re-submission
Submission
Approval
Review for filed form compliance and NYL
requirements
Advertising Review
Submission
Association Client
Imagine..this multi-step process for 500
packages per year!
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Creative Development and Review Process
Product proposal, filed/approved application and
group policy
New Product
NYL New Product
NYL New Product Information
Education
Submission
Submission
Submission
Broker/Third Party Administrator (TPA)
Changes Comments
NYL Client Services
NYL Compliance
Changes
Creative Agency
Re-submission
Review for filed form compliance and NYL
requirements
Advertising Review
Approval
Submission
Association Client
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Theres got to be a way to streamline

• So, I started asking myself
• What would be the benefits of driving improvement
  in the process?
• What results would I want to deliver in this
  process?
• Heres what I came up with
• Time Compress cycle time from product launch to
  marketing launch
• Regulatory- Ensure compliance
• Cost Reduce both soft dollar and hard dollar
  costs
• Simplify review process
• Financial Earlier marketing date means product
  sales start earlierand so does premium collection

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OK, But How????
I began with a basic innovation
principalrelated worlds ..identifying
situations or events that in some way mirror your
creative challenge. The principals or stimuli of
anothers approach can be identified and
reapplied to your own challenge. Where in the
world has my challenge (or anything like it) been
faced before? What can I learn and steal from
it? Concept Regulatory filings are
done with bracketing and a memo of variability
?WHAT IF!, Ltd. Sticky Wisdom - How to Start a
Creative Evolution at Work. West Sussex,
UKCapstone Publishing, 2002
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Making it REAL in an established organization
The Process

• 1) Develop straw man for concept
• 2) Garner buy-in key internal stakeholders
• Executive sponsor
• Compliance/Legal Defined parameters/limits
• Client Services Reviews creative for regulatory
  compliance of materials and NYL specific
  requirements

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Making it REAL in an established organization
(contd)

• 3) Meet individually and
• Speak their language
• Tailor the benefits/value prop to each
  stakeholder
• Decrease workload - All stakeholders
• Simplify - Defined parameters pre-approved
  Client Services Compliance
• Shorter time cycle from product regulatory
  approval to marketing launch Executive Client
  Services
• Campaigns drop sooner, revenue booked earlier-
  Executive Client Services
• Cost controls Same creative template customized
  for each product/affinity partner Executive,
  Client Services and Compliance
• Tenacity dont give up

APPROVAL!!!!!!!
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Implementation

• Launching the initiative was a learning and
  iterative process
• Creative development with Insurance Direct
  Marketing focused agency (Norris Creative and JCG
  Group)
• Master Creative approach Drive relevancy for
  diverse affinity base in a cost efficient manner
• Kitchen sink Template Can always take things
  out, but putting things in can require redesign
  of layout ( and Time)
• Share draft creative with Client Services for
  feedback
• Write memo of Variability to Compliance and
  submit with creative package for review.

First creative package approved for marketing!
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Even More Benefits

• Additional process streamlining- Once compliance
  approves Variability memo and creative no need
  to review each Affinity partners version of the
  creative package. Provide final mailed piece

Process for Master Template
Process for Client Versioning
TPA
NYL Client Services
Submission
Submission
NYL New Product
NYL New Product
Comments
Submission
Submission of client information
Approval
NYL Compliance
Education
Submission
NYL Client Services
Creative Agency
Imagine..these streamlined processes for new
product marketing
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Even More Benefits (contd)

• Develop alternative uses of creative -
  fulfillment, statement insert, web
• Printer partner with direct mail production,
  creative services and distribution expertise
  drives cost and time efficiencies.

Were not standing on our laurels.We see an
opportunity to increase variability options for
text and tag lines to target product offers to
specific demographics / lifestages/ psychographics
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Results and Advice

• WIN-WIN-WIN
• Achieved all benefits initially identifiedplus
  some
• Word spreads.Additional buy-in from affinity
  partners
• Success requires a strong foundation
• Strong partnership with internal stakeholders
• Clearly articulated strategy/vision document,
  directing benefits to your audience
• The right external direct mail experts and
  partners make all the difference
• Industry and marketplace knowledge
• Creative, Printing and Distribution expertise