Denim Rivet

For an encore episode to top-off Season 2 of Denim Rivet, we went in studio with Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership. Jay is focused on Des Moines’ regional economic and community development which serves central Iowa. With over 6,000 members and 23 affiliate chambers of commerce, Jay has worked for the Partnership since 2005. Previously, he served as the senior vice president of Government Affairs helping to develop public policy strategies. For the last five years, Jay has been the Partnership’s CEO, highlighting and expanding on the state’s influence in the insurance and financial services ecosystem. Attracting Talent Companies both large and small across central Iowa all agree that the number one issue when it comes to innovation revolves around hiring talent. Finding talented workers with the skills it takes to make both the individual and company successful is a major task. Winning the war for talent translates to winning the war for economic development. So, the Partnership spends a lot of time scaling existing talent and retaining and attracting new talent on the Des Moines scene. Iowa has the highest concentration of insurance workers in the whole country. More than 80 insurance companies and financial industry players call the state their home. The Greater Des Moines Partnership takes it upon themselves to see how they can share that tradition and story across the globe. The Next Silicon Valley It’s a common saying. Certain locals want to be the next “Silicon Mountain” or “Silicon Prairie.” But the Silicon Valley took decades to take form and arrive at its current state. Cluster development played a huge role in that process which is something the Greater Des Moines Partnership has taken note of. With the highest concentration of insurance workers in the country at their fingertips, the beginnings of the Global Insurance Symposium and Global Insurance Accelerator were founded. Back of the Napkin At the time, Nick Gerhart was Iowa’s Insurance Commissioner and a past guest of our podcast. But before he became commissioner he sat down with Jay for lunch and discussed the possibility of him being nominated for the position. This led to a bit of a “back of the napkin” talk about what they could do to harness all the energy surrounding the insurance and financial services sector. Nick said they should create a symposium if he got the position, and that’s exactly what happened. After coming up with the first symposium the idea got started for the accelerator. They recruited their first three investors and got them on stage and the symposium to to say they were supporting the Global Insurance Accelerator. This led to them acquiring more investors and a healthy relationship between the Global Insurance Symposium and the Global Insurance Accelerator. Now, companies that go through the accelerator pitch their products and services at the Global Insurance Symposium in front of over 500 industry leaders from across the globe. April 24 – 26 will be the dates for the 5th annual Global Insurance Symposium, and we highly recommend being in attendance! New Beginnings This episode marks the end of Season 2 of Denim Rivet. Stay tuned for exciting new episodes in Season 3 of the podcast, coming Tuesday, September 12th! Links Greater Des Moines Partnership Global Insurance Symposium Global Insurance Accelerator Nick Gerhart – Denim Rivet S2E5 The post S2E14: Jay Byers, CEO of the Greater Des Moines Partnership appeared first on Denim®.

With a mother from New Zealand and a father from Canada, Geoffry Keast caught the traveling bug at an early age. He’s lived and worked everywhere from New Zealand and Boston, to London, Nigeria, and Vancouver. He has been involved in B2B enterprise companies and entered in through the world of secure documentation. It was there he saw how digital services can transform the customer’s experience and transform how businesses serve their customers. Geoff now works with Montoux helping the life insurance industry design products that help better serve their customers needs. Business Differences Abroad Geoff has worked on an array of projects with businesses all over the world, as evidenced by his intro. He’s seen how businesses operate outside of Western norms and how customers in different countries need completely different things. Take for example, Nigeria. Undertaking business deals there highlighted some cultural differences. Negotiations weren’t very focused on finding a partner, but were more based on having power and control over the relationship. The conversations were more aggressive, which isn’t because they didn’t want to do business, but was just their approach to the process. Montoux With the tools Montoux provides, life insurance carriers are able to create the most efficient pricing process they can. This allows them to stay relevant in regard to their competition. Geoff can’t stress the importance of this enough – a recent study showed that the average time it took a new product or reprice to get to market. It can take 40 weeks from ideation to implementation, and pricing takes up a huge chunk of that time. Taking down pricing to a very granular level to improve profitability, and becoming more efficient allows carriers to spend more time on product development. In our special edition episode with TransUnion, it was brought up that there’s no such thing as bad risk, but there is such a thing as bad pricing. Montoux allows carriers to take a closer look at alternate sources of data, such as step and diet data from wearables, so they can price risk more appropriately. Montoux is built to handle those alternate data sources, and they also bring in competitor pricing so analysis can be done to see where the carrier stands in relation to the rest of the industry. Innovation Geoff sees that innovating in the insurance industry is difficult due to its sheer size. Life insurance makes up 25 percent of the global market on its own. Thinking back to his experience in retail banking, he sees a lot of similar challenges that the banking industry has already tackled. Some teachable moments would include the way companies engage with the customer. Plain and simple, it needs to be contextual. The shift away from physical banks and ATMs to digital services brought up the discussion of, well, do people really want to go through the whole mortgage process on their smart phone? The answer was no, that there was still a need for some one on one interactions in the space. So the context of the product will still need to meet the customer’s needs going forward. Going 100 percent digital doesn’t need to be the focus, the focus needs to be designing the process around what the customer need is specific to their product. Show Links Linkedin geoff@montoux.com @GeoffKeast Montoux Special Edition Episode: 2017 TransUnion Insurance Summit – LIVE All Episodes of the Podcast eBook Offer: Marketing to Millennials | 7 Tips for Reaching and Engaging Your Audience The post S2E13: Transforming Life Insurance Product Development with Montoux appeared first on Denim®.

In this week’s episode, we’ve turned the tables on Denim Rivet. Brian Hemesath, Managing Director of the Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA), interviews the CEO & Co-Founder of Denim and the founder and host of this podcast, Gregory Bailey. On today’s show, Brian guides the conversation as Gregory shares his journey through his more than two decade insurance industry career and how he founded Denim. From Insurance Agent to Startup CEO Gregory started selling insurance as an agent for Northwestern Mutual at the age of 20. At the time, he was full-time student at the University of Missouri where he struck a chord with the marketing discipline in his business studies. He landed his first corporate job through Mutual of Omaha, where his skills in sales and sales management gave him the experience to help create training programs, marketing plans and go-to-market strategies. Next up, he was director, product management at CUNA Mutual Group, where he led the P&L, product development and product lifecycle management for the life and health related products of the company. After brokering a strategic partnership with Pacific Life Insurance Company, Gregory moved to southern California to lead marketing in the life insurance division of Pacific Life. After three years in southern California, Gregory’s career continued with a move back to the Midwest where he became the Chief Marketing Officer of a large life and annuity carrier in Des Moines. This is when he first crossed paths with Brian. Gregory became a lead mentor for the GIA’s 2015 cohort, and quickly realized that after spending two decades in the insurance industry, his newfound passion was in founding an insurtech startup. Thus, this podcast and Denim itself was born. Denim’s Digital Platform Denim has multiple avenues to add value to a carrier’s marketing strategy. The first is Denim’s ability for corporate marketers to highly scale their social media advertising on behalf of their local agents, advisors and brokers. This is a huge deal, because locally targeted ads perform up to 250% better than taking a corporate brand approach to social advertising. Denim also aggregates an enormous amount of data within its platform specific to consumer advertising behavior on social media. In the first five months Denim was in the market, the company’s patent-pending platform captured more than 250 million aggregated data points. Denim’s Team Leading and growing the Denim team (the core team is currently made up of five people), Gregory has brought wicked smart people together to achieve the company’s transformative tech vision. From his technical co-founder and friend building the first code on nights and weekends from southern California to recent hires in Des Moines, he’s focused on building a team that is far from just nose-in-the-keyboard programmers. Nearly all team members can speak intelligently about the company in front of an audience – it’s a work culture Bailey is especially proud of. Through this episode, listeners are able to get a glimpse into many of the positive aspects of building an insurtech startup. However, it’s those at home (including family members) that experience it all – the joys, the tough moments and the roller coaster ride that is starting a business. Links Denim’s Website Gregory Bailey on LinkedIn Brian Hemesath on LinkedIn The post S2E12: Gregory Bailey’s Journey to Build Denim® appeared first on Denim®.

The Denim Rivet is back with another special edition episode! This time we’ve recorded in front of a live studio audience full of insurance industry executives at the 2017 TransUnion Insurance Summit in downtown Chicago. In this episode, we’re joined by Jeff Reynolds, VP of Insurance Product Development, and Robin Wagner, Senior VP of International Insurance. Both Jeff and Robin share how big data can spur innovation by carefully inspecting its intelligence density and finding unique ways to infer solutions from customer behavior and habits. The Future: Insurance On Demand Imagine this – you wake up early one morning, grab your mountain bike, and strap it to your vehicle (perhaps an autonomous one) to set out for a weekend adventure. But before you leave your driveway you pull out your smartphone, pull up your insurance provider, and take out a two day policy to insure your bike. It happens seamlessly, with no hassle, letting you head out to the mountains without worrying about dinging your bike’s frame or destroying a tire rim. Looking deeper into data will make scenarios like these a reality. There are actionable solutions in customer data, both currently collected and not, that will allow insurance to be more tailored and nuanced for every individual. Think about in terms of life and health insurance. Imagine your policy being connected to your smart fridge, your smart TV, and even your bedrooms light sensors to gauge how much you are sleeping. While privacy may seem to be an issue here, as long as providers are transparent with the consumer and there is a clear benefit they will be more likely to offer up their own data. TransUnion’s Role in the Insurtech Ecosystem TransUnion is a data collector and linker. They’re looking for new ways to intricately wrap extra layers of data around customer interactions to act as behavioral surrogates. This allows them to better predict what a customer is likely to do. This is nothing new for Transunion – they were into big data before big data was cool. They’ve invested 100s of millions into their technology platforms and developed data lakes so decisions can be made quicker and faster. Pushing further down this path will reveal more insights as they learn how to better knit and operationalize the intelligence blossoming in the ever expanding volumes of data flooding in. Some of the challenges in moving forward include regulators – it’s difficult to adapt and allow wholesale changes to take place in any given ecosystem. Autonomous vehicles is showing this to be true at the moment. However, consumers are going to demand these changes to the industry. It’s an exciting time for insurance, as there are new solutions and hurdles cropping up every day. Opportunities are budding with each new challenge and ever more creative answers are going to propel the industry into a future that reshapes how we view insurance in relation to our lives. Links TransUnion Insurance Summit Jeff Reynolds Robin Wagner The post Special Edition: 2017 TransUnion Insurance Summit – LIVE appeared first on Denim®.

Denim Rivet is back this week with Jim Gardner, co-founder and CEO of ViewSpection from Tucson, Arizona. Jim and ViewSpection participated in the 2017 edition of the Global Insurance Accelerator (GIA) in Des Moines. And get this – Jim first reached out to Denim Rivet host, Gregory Bailey and the GIA after listening to the Denim Rivet podcast! ViewSpection transforms the way commercial, residential, and even agricultural inspections are done. The app allows policyholders to take pictures from their smartphone of the exterior and interior walkthrough of their property. These are then uploaded to the carrier to essentially double the amount of inspections done on any given property. User Experience As a policyholder, your agent would typically invite you to download the app. Next, you’ll be asked to spend a bit of time taking photos – around 15 minutes to get through the exterior and interior of your property. From there the pictures are uploaded to your agent so they can find you the best coverage and also get to know you a little better. There are 3 versions of the app for the policyholder, the agent, and the inspector. If you’re an agent interested in trying out ViewSpection you can download the app right now. You are given 5 free uses to play with all the apps features. On Insuretech We started the Denim Rivet podcast to foster conversation about the evolution and transformation of insuretech in the insurance industry. With an app like ViewSpection, Jim is well on his way to helping the ecosystem evolve. However, he has noticed that there is still tension with carriers when it comes to holding onto the old way of doing things. He’s worked with the GIA to really dig into what makes ViewSpection attractive to the policyholder (such as having less strangers visit their property) as well as the agent (since the app allows them to focus on sales work instead of driving out to properties). ViewSpection allows the carrier to allow policyholders to self service while getting double the amount of inspections for the same dollars being spent. Growth and the Global Insurance Accelerator Once locked in with the GIA, Jim went into a rapid fire round of over 150 meetings in three weeks with different mentors and industry specialists. The information he gained through this is invaluable, and while intense, he wants to replicate the experience every year going forward. In just a few months he’s seen ViewSpections customer base grow immensely and is already discussing contract agreements on their third meeting with a major carrier. Coming from a 2nd generation business background, there are things on the sales side the GIA was able to get Jim up to speed with. He’s seen first-hand that someone may fall in love with your product, like ViewSpection, but there is a long way to go before getting anything down in ink to move forward. Some of this comes from resistance to change old habits carriers have, but the GIA has helped Jim shore up ViewSpection’s pain points so he has actionable answers and plans for any questions or issues an agent or carrier might have. What’s Next? ViewSpection recently attended the Global Insurance Symposium, which acts as the capstone for all the GIA’s cohorts. Jim is planning on relocating ViewSpection’s offices to Des Moines so they can be located in a centralized network of like-minded companies looking to transform the industry. You can read more about what is going on with Jim and ViewSpection over at his LinkedIn profile. Links ViewSpection Jim’s LinkedIn Venture Deals S2E7: 2017 Cohort of the Global Insurance Accelerator The post S2E11: DIY Inspections with ViewSpection appeared first on Denim®.

On today’s episode of Denim Rivet, we’re talking social media and social selling with the founder and CEO of Assist You Today, Robert Knop. Believe it or not, Robert started his long road to the financial services industry with a fine arts degree. After a bold move to California, buying half of an advertising agency he worked for, then ending up in startup land, he was hired at Pacific Life by none other than show host, Gregory Bailey. Now Robert guides companies in finding out what they want to be known for and helps them devise an actionable plan to achieve their goals. Strategy and Implementation Assist You Today knows that it’s easy for a marketing department to get stuck focusing on what’s just two inches in front of them. So, AYT’s mission is to help these companies nail down who they are, what their true value proposition is, and then draw up a roadmap on how to get there. This is done by modernizing sales techniques with current technology – something many companies haven’t gotten a hold of yet. Transforming Marketing and Distribution Assist You Today specializes in applying real world tactics in the digital arena. No one throws a sales pitch right in someone’s face after just shaking hands in real life, yet Robert sees this happening on social media. The art of mastering sales activity online is something AYT shares with their clients so they can chart the finer nuances of modernizing proven techniques. Creating a playbook with high level and actionable steps is the key to maintaining this online activity. Friction Matters Robert has talked to companies that seem reluctant to modernize their strategies. Many are still using antiquated systems devised decades ago. But we are entering the age where consumers are mandating that companies evolve and change. The fluidity and ease of using a site like Amazon is now what consumers expect from every online interaction. Having to fill out five pages of paperwork and mail it to your insurer is not an effective way to interact with consumers in this era. Social Selling Utilizing social media networks effectively now centers around adding value to help consumers. One aspect of this involves establishing a personal brand with a social media page or account that’s targeted toward your intended audience. Then comes engaging with others. It’s called “social” media and not “a-social” media for a reason. Are You Wearing Denim? If you’re a fan of our show, please do us a favor and leave us a rating in iTunes! We’re Hiring! Know someone who would like to work at Denim? Please have them visit joindenim.com and apply today! Links Assist You Today LinkedIn Robert’s Book Recommendations The Art of the Start Word of Mouth Marketing Digital Leader: 5 Simple Keys to Success and Influence The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It The post S2E10: Social Media and Social Selling with Robert Knop appeared first on Denim.

In this special edition episode of Denim Rivet, we welcome the co-chairs of the 2017 Global Insurance Symposium. Laura Beebe and Kay Godfredsen join us for an exciting discussion and provide all the details you’ll need for this year’s fourth annual symposium. Join us April 25 – 27, 2017, in downtown Des Moines! When you register, use the promo code DENIMRIVET to receive 10% off your registration. The post Special Edition: 2017 Global Insurance Symposium appeared first on Denim Rivet.

On today’s episode of Denim Rivet, we continue our conversation with Mike Schreurs, Chairman and Chief Strategist of Strategic America. Our conversation with Mike was so, riveting, we decided to break the interview into two parts. If you’ve not yet listened to the first part of our interview, please be sure to check it out. In part two of our interview, Mike looks ahead at what field marketing may hold for the insurance and financial services industry in 2017 and beyond. Radical Change Mike notes that many of the political campaigns that wrapped up at the end of 2016 began to push the insurance and financial services industry into some uncertain areas. The change that is coming could very well be disruptive. The onus to make consumers feel secure is becoming ever more crucial in the industry. How do you make customers feel like they’ve protected what is most important to them? Security is fast becoming a key component of what brand promises need to be focused on. With regulatory change comes insight. And careful insight is pulled from data and used to drive investment at both the corporate level, and the local level in order to drive results. Passion to win in every market needs to be at the forefront of every company, as well as the commitment to seek solutions that may work in one part of the country, but not others. Social Media & Mobile In A New Era It was only four or five years ago that Facebook hadn’t even launched its mobile app yet. Smartphones are now an all-encompassing connection point for consumers daily lives. The phone is a connecting point to both peers and markets, and consumers actively seek out information from peers before making purchasing decisions. Social, in this way, is empowering and validating for any consumer looking to make informed decisions. For the insurance industry, the prime “real estate” that needs to be focused on is the vertical scroll-field of the social media newsfeed on smartphones. Small Testing, Big Analytics With the impact the digital era is having on marketing it makes more sense to let big budget tests fall to the wayside a bit. Consistent, smaller investments using paid social media and mobile allow for a variety of tests to be conducted. This gives a broader range of data points to be looked at and see what works best, and how certain campaigns can be optimized for full scale campaigns with regard to demographics and regions. Are You Wearing Denim? If you’re a fan of our show, please do us a favor and leave us a review in iTunes. We’d be very appreciative! Episode Links Strategic America The post S2E9: Mike Schreurs, Strategic America – Part 2 appeared first on Denim Rivet.

After a mid-season break, we’re back on Denim Rivet with Mike Schreurs, Chairman and Chief Strategist of Strategic America. Our conversation with Mike was so, riveting, we’ve decided to break the interview into two parts. Mike’s journey into marketing and advertising started out in television behind a camera. He ended up as a director, then selling T.V. time, and eventually wound up as the founder and CEO of Strategic America (“SA”). Mike notes that some clients take the company’s acronym to mean “simply awesome.” But today he is diving into what the “S” means to him – strategy. Strategy is what ends up creating the most long term impact. At Strategic America, all 100+ employees are challenged to find a better way to do things. Understanding SA’s strategy and vision is the only way for them to do that. Mike himself has seen that there is a “get by” level of doing things that is held by some companies. However, his goals for SA are far from just getting by, instead seizing opportunities to make something better and change the world is a more noteworthy approach to tackling the dynamic environment of insurance advertising. Tipping The Marketing Funnel Companies can now do what they once thought was impossible. Dealing with 2,000 to 20,000 individual agents in now a reality. This distribution network of agents can be used to really define and support brand awareness. In the last 20 years there’s been a shift in brand awareness; the iconography of looming buildings, pillars, and institutions no longer garners trust in a consumer. Consumers need something more approachable. Look no farther than GEICO, Progressive, and Allstate to see how they have benefited from modern media. How Can Smaller Players Keep Up? “Rather than outspend, being strategic means outthinking the competition.” This quote is pulled straight from Strategic America’s homepage. The key to successful campaigns and reach isn’t necessarily the size of your marketing budget. Mike believes being as distinctive as possible and delivering, and not just imitating a category leader, is a surefire way to stand out. Finding a meaningful way to deliver information to the consumer has never been more important. Anyone at any size can now find a way to be relevant to their targeted consumer. Why SA Focuses On Field Marketing When you properly take care of a client you learn not only from their perspective, but you also find out what makes something successful. Mike sees insights rolling in from field marketing specialists, those focused on data and those talking directly to consumers. It’s clear the distribution field network is where results are produced. By tipping the marketing funnel sideways, companies have a lever to drive these results. The power of a brand is in the customer journey. It’s about where the customer is, getting them the right information, and leading them on the journey to validate that information so they can make a buying decision. Stay Tuned For Part 2 Be on the lookout for the second part of our interview with Mike Schreurs, Chairman and Chief Strategist at Strategic America. Episode Links Strategic America The post S2E8: Mike Schreurs, Strategic America – Part 1 appeared first on Denim Rivet.

On today’s episode, we welcome back Brian Hemesath, Managing Director of the Global Insurance Accelerator. Brian is here with a rundown of the GIA’s 2017 cohort–namely six startups that, under mentorship from multiple volunteer mentors, are aiming to put a large dent in the insuretech ecosystem. The six startups just arrived in Des Moines this week. The GIA has stepped up its game this year, making new partnerships that include Staybridge Suites where the cohorts will stay for the next 100 days. Here’s a quick glimpse of the six startups participating in the 2017 cohort (in alphabetical order).   Startup: Find Bob Coming from Toronto, Find Bob is focused on Book of Business transition for carriers and agents. According to Find Bob’s website, 80% of advisors do not have a succession plan.The nuances of these transfers can certainly lead to loss, and Find Bob is aiming to make sure this process happens correctly. Website: FindBob.io   Startup: Insurance Menu Insurance Menu hails from Boston and already has a fleshed out product and some paying customers. This puts them right in the sweet spot stage for companies the GIA likes to bring onboard. Helping brokers and agents distribute products is the main goal of the startup. Their product was created to fill a need born out of a innovative legislative mandate passed in Massachusetts in 2010. Website: InsuranceMenu.com   Startup: MotionsCloud Ever wish you had a mobile app with intelligent AI that could help automate much of the claims process? Well MotionsCloud from Munich Germany is setting their sights on incumbents with their tech. Brian is well aware that AI is a hot space within the insurance ecosystem, and will be steering MotionsCloud in the right direction with their tech. Website: MotionsCloud.com   Startup: Re-Sure Re-Sure comes from Detroit Michigan. Their startup covers a slew of buzzwords such as block chain enabled, app driven, smart insurance-smart contract for on demand/micro insurance. This is most certainly a conceptual technology play. Brian will be helping them focus in what insurance space has the landing spot where Re-Sure can make the biggest impact.   Startup: Sentrys From Serbia, Sentrys is developing a cloud platform where date from all your devices can be housed, focusing primarily on auto. Many customers don’t quite understand the value of this data as of yet. This data could be used by the customer to defend themselves when you take a claim to an insurance carrier. They will be doing this with their connected vehicle or drone incident-accident certification system. Website: Sentrys.co   Startup: Viewspection Viewspection started up in Tucson Arizona and is a pre loss app. Jim Gardner, Viewspection’s CEO, has years of experience in home inspection. This app lets the work of these inspections be done by the consumer–a total do-it-yourself app. This allows you, instead of a stranger, take pictures and videos of your home for any underwriter. Website: Viewspection.com   Links Season 1, Episode 4: Accelerating Insurance Startups Season 1, Episode 15: Special Announcement from the GIA Global Insurance Accelerator Global Insurance Symposium The post S2E7: 2017 Cohort of the Global Insurance Accelerator appeared first on Denim Rivet.

On this episode of Denim Rivet, Gregory talks insurance innovation and insurtech with special guest, Paul Tyler, Chief Marketing Officer of Phoenix Life Insurance Company in Hartford, CT. Paul has been monitoring the pulse of the insurtech ecosystem and its intersection with innovation and marketing strategy. He’s here today to share his thoughts on the crossroads insurance marketing is in and some of the technologies that will help guide it into the future. But before he entered the insurance industry, Paul started off organizing campaigns in the political sphere. He transitioned to MetLife, where he worked across every part of the retail business sector. When he saw the impact iPhones were going to have on business he decided to found a startup on the side. This creative delve into the tech space undoubtedly has helped Paul develop a sense of how innovation can propel the insurance industry – specifically, in a direction that is able to pinpoint focus on consumers in new and unique ways. Key Takeaways User interface (UI) plays a critical role in how consumers interact with content and ultimately purchase. Paul finds that tablets have a unique functionality in this regard. Having a thin touchscreen device that can pair with a keyboard breaks down barriers in a face-to-face environment. The statistics he sees show that the touch functionality of tablets seems to be more accepted by those over the age of 55 than any other device. In the evolution of user interfaces, we’ve moved from the mouse and keyboard, to touch interfaces, and now voice control or voice experiences. It’s likely within the next five years that the amount of internet connected devices in your home without a keyboard will increase by a factor of six. Voice can be an easier way to engage with a device, but it’s clear people aren’t quite comfortable with that yet. Paul says all you have to do is look at the transcripts of someone interacting with a voice controlled device to see that people aren’t properly educated in how to interact with these technologies. Paul sees that the state of insurance innovation and marketing in the insurance industry is at a crossroads. Strategies have to have great content and ideas that target small, passionate groups, while having tech savvy plans for distributing the content digitally. The trend has shifted from marketing and sales to marketing and tech. Explaining marketing architecture to a tech team can be difficult, putting more pressure on the tech side to deliver specific solutions. The second wave of social media is upon us according to Paul. Facebook allows you to target people at critical life stages, whether it’s getting married, having a baby or getting a new job. The intricacies of reaching the right consumer at the right time seems to be exponentially increasing. However, Paul sees this as a perfect place for tech to streamline complex campaigns. He uses Denim™ as an example of how this can be done. Consider Denim – the social media based marketing platform that can be consistently launched with the push of a button in just two minutes; this allows social media ads to be delivered for a tremendous number of agents and advisors, leveraging a home office marketing strategy that can help agents compete with online only companies. With access to important agent level analytics, it’s more important than ever to know how to review social media metrics. And what about Paul’s thoughts on the state of the insurtech ecosystem? They can be summed up in three words: “We’re just starting.” The amount of opportunity is enormous. With the amount of passion, creativity, and energy pouring into the ecosystem he believes we’ll see the scene continue to turn out innovative solutions to the industry’s ever evolving needs. Links Paul Tyler on Twitter Paul Tyler on LinkedIn The post S2E6: Insurance Innovation and Insurtech with Paul Tyler appeared first on Denim Rivet.

On today’s episode of Denim Rivet, we’re joined by a repeat guest and friend of Gregory’s, that’s Iowa Insurance Commissioner, Nick Gerhart. Shortly after recording this episode, Nick announced his resignation and that he would not seek another term as Commissioner. We at Denim™ wish Nick and his family all the best as they continue creating their story and we thank Nick for his leadership over the years. You can call it a gut feeling, but we believe Nick will be sticking close to insurance technology and innovation in the years ahead. Nick has had his hands full discussing the potential changes promised by a new administration regarding the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Keeping an eye on advancements in insurance technology and innovation, Nick was the only sitting Insurance Commissioner at the inaugural InsureTech Connect conference in Las Vegas. He’s also given testimony before the United States Congress as they seek to learn more about the ACA. Nick has been warning that things are going to be changing, and has pointed to the need for a modern day Manhattan Project related to healthcare. What he means by this is getting a lot of smart people together to work toward a solution on a difficult problem. As of now the ACA doesn’t address cost in the system. Discussions need to be had across multiple industries, with hospital groups, insurers, consumers, and drug manufacturers. It won’t surprise many that information isn’t always easily conveyed to consumers – in fact, many people spend more time researching a new refrigerator purchase than they investigate their own health care options. Nick is looking forward to a future where innovation and streamlined communication help bridge the current gaps in the system to propel the industry forward. Key Takeaways If you haven’t already, please read Nick’s recent post on Ten Points to Help Improve the ACA. While he admits it’s not perfect, it is a great starting point to address some of the major issues. One of these points directs attention to innovation in product design while encouraging limited underwriting so that healthy people can be rewarded for their behaviors. Nick believes insurtech startups can help stabilize some current issues in the ecosystem. Many opportunities are going to rise on the education side, informing consumers in a meaningful, digestible way. The same goes for using risk assessments and rewarding individuals for their healthy behaviors. While there is ample data in the current ecosystem, knowing what to do with it in order to get people to be more healthy and make smart purchasing decisions is a small slice that seems like it is up for grabs. If President-elect Donald Trump phoned Nick and asked him what they should call the changes to the ACA, whether it was a reform, a repeal, or restructuring; this is what Nick would have to say: it doesn’t matter what you want to call the changes, they are all going to take an incredible amount of work to implement. Keep in mind, carriers have to price their 2018 products and file them by May 3, 2017. Nothing makes carriers pull their products out of the market like uncertainty, and as of now that is the predominant message being sent. Looking forward to 2017, Nick believes that the insuretech herd will be thinned out quite a bit. Businesses that aren’t working will go under and those that have merit will stay. Some of this is due to using “hope” as a strategy, and developing technology for a business strategy. Nick says that having a business strategy and developing technology to fit it is a more efficient, safer way to make a mark in the industry. Links Nick Gerhart’s Previous Episode on Season 1 of Denim Rivet Nick Gerhart’s ACA LinkedIn Post The post S2E5: Iowa Insurance Commissioner, Nick Gerhart appeared first on Denim Rivet.

In this episode of Denim Rivet, our guest is on a mission to reinvent small business insurance. I’m referring to none other than Kevin Kerridge – Executive Vice President of small business insurance at Hiscox USA. Now in his 20th year at Hiscox, Kevin Kerridge started an online direct to consumer business in the UK during the Dot Com bubble. In 2005 that grew to encompass small businesses, and in 2010 he came to the US to scout out the small business insurance landscape. Astounded by the lack of maturity in the US small business insurance space, Kevin moved to New York to help Hiscox spread its small business services across the pond. He finds that the US is till 5-7 years behind the UK in terms of digitizing insurance for small businesses. When Hiscox started making waves in 2010 Kevin suspected that competitors would jump on the opportunity the small business space was presenting. However, he sees that the transition is still in its embryonic stages and offers some insights into the present state of affairs, and what the future has to offer. Key Takeaways Kevin sees that the insure tech ecosystem today reflects the atmosphere created back in the Dot Com bubble. There is a lot of outside talent starting to crop up and bring big ideas to the industry. Despite all this energy, not many companies have started to create a pivotal impact yet. No one knows yet how this story will shake out. Some companies currently going online have clunky user experiences that they are still managing to funnel hundreds of thousands of customers through. This is nothing to be scoffed at, and is expected as businesses build foundations that they can move and grow upon. With all the energy and hype in the insurance space now it’s easy to get swept away in the idea of disrupting the market. Companies that try to do this are taking an enormous risk though, and while it may appear flashy and bold, there is much to be said for incremental innovation. Bringing the customers online experience up to par with other companies is a great way to work towards innovation and new services. Remember, it’s okay to not be disruptive. Many in the insurance space have been wondering if the direct to consumer model might spell an extinction event for agents. Kevin doesn’t seem to think that will happen, and believes that agents will intergral to distribution. The key is that agents are going to start looking and acting differently than today. This will come from being digitally enabled. Social has played an integral role in Hiscox’s development as well. Kevin approached their marketing team back when they first branched out to the small business space, and they came up with a web tv series called Leap Year. The series followed a group of corporate employees that were laid off and started their own small business. Highlighting the struggles and triumphs of the small business adventure with a comedic twist landed the show over 6 million views, and get this: they didn’t even mention insurance once. Links Insurance Is Not Being Disrupted Bunker Hiscox The post S2E4: Small Business Insurance Innovation appeared first on Denim Rivet.

By now, our listeners should know that we announced the launch of our insuretech startup, Denim™ at the InsureTech Connect Conference on October 5th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The conference was co-founded by a past guest of our show. That season one guest is back on today’s episode for an exclusive recap. He is Caribou Honig, Caribou is a founding partner of QED Investors and saw the potential of tech innovation in the financial sector. But in looking for conferences to attend he saw a gap in the ecosystem that needed to be filled. The conference was designed around his needs and a desire to connect entrepreneurs with investors looking for cutting edge ideas to help propel their business ahead of the curve in the digital age. The conference exploded beyond Caribou’s expectations, drawing in 1500 attendees. He is currently reading through survey responses about the conference to see what needs were met and what can be included for the conference next year. Caribou’s ultimate goal of helping support the insurance technology ecosystem was clearly met, and he has seen tremendous growth in the seed stage companies he was in touch with leading up to the event. The conference encouraged conversations about the sector among people in the industry that rarely, if ever meet, and discussing the varied perspectives led to fantastic, and fun conversation. Caribou is looking forward to the future of the conference and finding ways to keep the groundswell momentum it created while adding value to all who attended, and the industry at large. Key Takeaways Caribou finds that insurance tech is in a period reminiscent of where banking was a few years ago with lending. The internet completely transformed how they did business especially with the advent of bill pay and and how they originated customers. The internet alone wasn’t enough to transform the insurance industry. However, the internet coupled with smart phones is a clear force that has awakened and is starting to impact the industry full force. When asked what they were most blown away by, most attendees said that the Chinese insurance company Zhong An stole the spotlight. Aside from insights to the international market, Zhong An discussed doing billions of micro policies, all online, which was a real wakeup call for everyone in the room. Caribou noticed that the customer experience engineer role is being elevated in the space. Several talks focused on incorporating behavioral economic principles into system design. This is especially pertinent in the mobile space, where system, design and functionality need to be slick, streamlined, and easy for the customer to use. No startup innovation can take place without fantastic entrepreneurs at the foundation. Caribou was excited to see the opportunity for many great seed stage companies to connect with insurers and carriers at the conference and start their journey to becoming Series A and beyond. Links InsureTech Connect QED Investors Zhong An Lemonade   The post S2E3: Insuretech Connect Recap appeared first on Denim Rivet.

When it comes to the topic of insurance social media, no one knows more than Terry Golesworthy. In today’s episode of Denim Rivet we sit down for our full interview with Terry Golesworthy, President of The Customer Respect Group. Terry has been with the CRG for 12 years and for the last six years, he has been researching how insurers interact with consumers online. With the steady evolution of social media over the years and the advent of insurtech companies, it’s safe to say Terry has had a great deal to dive into. Terry remembers in the mid 90’s insurance companies were asking whether or not they even wanted to have a website. It was thought if all information could be found online then consumers would have no need to call an agent. Some insurers went as far to have incomprehensible information on the site just so consumers would get frustrated and call an agent. That era is now over. In today’s age the customer has more control than ever, and if a company’s website and user experience are lacking, they will go elsewhere. Many of the new insurtech companies that have blossomed offer more ways for carriers and customers to communicate. This ease of communication is starting to allow new products to be offered since marketing and distribution is more efficient than ever before. Stereotypically difficult policies like renter’s insurance become less of burden to handle since customers can easily access and purchase through their smartphone. This highlights a shift that will continue in the industry; further improving user experience with friendly, powerful systems that make purchasing easy and keep customers engaging with insurers. Key Takeaways The days of manipulating ranks on Facebook, figuring out how to get the most retweets, and going to conferences to listen to social gurus are long past. Apart from initially purchasing, renewing, or making a claim on an insurance policy – there isn’t much interaction between the customer and carrier. American consumers have their own version of an operating system that they interact with on a daily basis. This OS allows them to collect and distribute information while allowing for easy research and purchasing to take place. This OS is composed of a person’s smartphone and a social media newsfeed. Mobile devices help to break down barriers as these devices are a part of us and with us at all times. Scalability was a major area of focus we wanted to tackle in creating Denim™. When a business has multiple agents taking time out of their day to manage their social presence it opens up the door to a host of problems. Aside from being a distraction from the agent’s primary work of selling, inconsistencies in pricing and other errors are more likely to occur each time an ad campaign is launched by individual agents. Denim was built so agents and advisors don’t have to be experts social media advertising and micro-targeted advertising can be scaled to more than a thousand different advisors and agents – all within two minutes. For a long time, it was thought that complexity in enterprise software platforms directly equated to value. The truth is that complexity in software design often makes it too difficult to use, and businesses only utilize 10% of a platform’s functionality. Denim focuses on breaking down this complexity, delivering an intuitive and easy-to-use product, while leaving all the value intact. Pay-to-Play vs. Organic Reach – social platforms are not charities. Paying for advertising has given businesses the opportunity to be the first to reach a specific target consumer. When you present an advertisement to the right person, at the right time, with the right message, it’s no longer an advertisement—it is simply information to the consumer. This allows for the consumer to easily share and pass along the information, which blends organic reach with paid social media advertising campaigns. Show Links Customer Respect Group Twitter: @TerryCRG The post S2E2: Insurance Social Media appeared first on Denim Rivet.

Most listeners of the Denim Rivet podcast for the last year would not have known that a technology company called Denim was being built by show creator and host, Gregory Bailey. Now, after more than a year of building Denim in “stealth,” Bailey is back with season two of the podcast to make a very public announcement regarding his own insurtech startup. Today, we are proud to announce the launch of Denim at the InsureTech Connect conference in Las Vegas, Nevada. Denim is reimagining marketing and distribution in the insurance and financial services industry by launching its insurance-smart social media advertising platform today. Denim empowers corporate marketers to build, launch and manage social media advertising campaigns for ten agents or ten-thousand advisors, all in the span of two minutes. We are honored to announce today that the Multiple Line Division of American National Insurance Company has been successfully using the Denim platform and is experiencing positive and dramatic results. And on this first episode of season two of Denim Rivet, we interview the EVP and CMO of American National’s Multiple Line Division, Scott Campbell. A Walk Down Memory Lane with Special Guest, Scott Campbell I invited Scott to have dinner in San Francisco in the fall of last year. Scott was happy to meet. After discussing our vision for Denim, we both agreed to continue the conversation. We quickly learned that a scalable advertising solution for social media platforms would provide significant efficiencies and and deliver near immediate return on investment. Providing an intuitive and easy-to-use interface and campaign builder workflow were pillars of our discussion when it came to making Denim a platform that is as powerful as it is enjoyable to use. After an iterative process with back and forth discussions between our teams, we put Denim to the test – and the results have been astounding. I would like to say thank you to Scott and the team at American National – we would not have achieved the success we have so far without the support and trust of their team. The Philosophy Behind Denim’s Creation with Special Guest, Terry Golesworthy Scalability was the first major focus area we wanted to deliver by creating Denim. When an insurance or financial services firm has dozens, hundreds or thousands of their agents and advisors taking time out of their day to manage their social presence, it opens up the door to a host of issues. Denim was created so agents and financial advisors don’t have to be experts in social media ad campaigns. Instead, Denim empowers home office corporate marketing teams to easily scale their messages on-behalf-of all of their agents and advisors. For many years, it has been thought that the level of complexity in a software platform directly equated to the value delivered. The truth is that this added complexity made software overly cumbersome to use and businesses were likely to only utilize a small percentage of the software’s functionality. Denim delivers an intuitive and easy-to-use software platform, but also delivers tremendous value for its users. Social Media Platforms are Not Charities Pay-to-Play vs. Organic Reach – social platforms are not charities. Paying for social media advertising has given firms of all sizes the opportunity to be the first to reach specific micro-targeted consumer audiences. When an advertisement to the right person, at the right time, with the right message, it’s no longer an advertisement, it’s simply information to the consumer. This allows for the consumer to easily share and pass along the information, which then blends organic reach with paid ad campaigns. The key is that it is time to initiate or time to deliver first on social media through paid media, paid advertising. Coming Up Thank you for helping us celebrate the launch of Denim and for joining us for Season 2 of Denim Rivet. We’re excited to have all-new guests and conversations on the show over these 16 episodes. We’ll be back with Season 2, Episode 2 of Denim Rivet on Wednesday, October 19, 2016. Links: Scott Campbell on Season 1, Episode 30 Denim American National Insurance Company InsureTech Connect Conference The post S2E1: Denim is Reimagining Marketing and Distribution appeared first on Denim Rivet.