Driving Marketing Insight through Primary Research...Di dt d f t thtff t tiDesigned to uncover and...

THE MERKLEMONITORMONITOR

Driving Marketing Insight through Primary Research

What is the Merkle Monitor?

A benchmark study of the American consumer examining decision-making and environmental influences on how America consumes insurance and financial services

D i d t d f t th t ff t ti Designed to uncover and measure factors that affect consumer perception, consideration, purchase intent and buying behavior of insurance and wealth management products

– Trends over time, pulsed monthlyp y

A focus on economic, regulatory and environmental changes as well as consumer interaction with Media channels that may affect consumer buying behavior on an ongoing basis

– Merkle DataSource overlay will build segmentation scheme

Customizable research platform– Designed to provide flexibility to customize content and findings to specific industries and brands– Ability to append proprietary segmentation profiles to create a powerful, differentiated

segmentation and data product for specific brands

A foundation of consumer insight to drive thought leadership and marketable insights across the IWM market spacep

© 2011 Merkle Inc. All Rights Reserved. Confidential 2

Research Objectives

The overall business objective is to gather marketable insights from the target consumers of the five financial products that Merkle addresses in the Insurance & Wealth Management vertical:

– Wealth Management Services (brokerage and advisory services)– Retirement Savings– Health Insurance– Life Insurance– Auto and Homeowner’s Insurance

Develop segmentation profiles from Merkle DataSource files and track evolution over time

R hR hResearches stocks online before calling her Advisor

’ ‘Facebooks’ friends for healthcare

advice

Responds to auto insurance offers via email


advice

Methodology

Online survey among a nationally representative sampling of 6,000 American consumers two times a year (November and June)

– Each wave will be stratified to be representative of the American consumer adult population to provide projectable results of market behaviors and target consumers across the country.

Ongoing monthly survey with panelist subset directed at identifying shifts in behavior among segments and as a result of current change in the environmental and g g geconomic landscape

Each respondent will provide details about their attitudes, values and behaviors across four sections of the survey:

– Financial services usage, attitudes, perceptions and needs– Perceptions about environmental and market factors – Channel and media usage

D hi– Demographic measures

This sampling will allow Merkle to measure the impact and influence of different aspects of the marketplace for financial services and define trends and key drivers of consumer behaviors


BETA Study


BETA Study

A nationally representative sampling of 643 American consumers completed a 20 minute online survey in August 2011y g

– Examined the role that digital communications channels have in the life of target customers, and profile the demographics, financial picture and digital interactions that consumers of each product line have

Provide projectable results of market behaviors and target consumers across the country and each of the 5 IWM verticals.

Sized key behaviors and attitudes about digital channels, current market y gconditions and financial decisions that determine how Americans consume financial services

– Sized usage of specific channels and media that influence financial decisions– Examined key facilitators and hurdles to digital channel usage in different facets of

household financial management– Correlations between media consumption and purchase behaviors


Key Themes

6 key themes emerged from our BETA test study:

The power of ‘Word of Mouth’

Digital channels cannot be ignored

Current economic environment is triggering decision-making

Retirement plan participants are making decisions

Life Insurance decisions are least researched and least reactionary Life Insurance decisions are least researched and least reactionary

Health insurance decisions are trigger-based


Theme #1: The Power of Word of Mouth

Resources used when researching financial products

35% 29%

Recommendations from friends and family Advice from a Financial Advisor

Retirement Property, Home

y

Life Insurance

Brokerage Investments

Accounts and Plans

and Auto Insurance

Health Insurance

What made you decide to open a new account or policy the last time you did?RecommendationsRecommendations from friends and family 36% 29% 28% 37% 33%Advice from a Financial Advisor 15% 29% 31% 14% 12%


Theme #1: the power of Word of Mouth


Theme #1: Strategic Considerations

People are relying on other people for a lot of their information and decision support

This comes in the form of friends/family, financial advisors , social media and interacting with strangers on the web (blogs/chat)

Product by product, the more complex the product, the less engaged the buyer is on their own and the more they may rely on the advice or opinions of othersis on their own and the more they may rely on the advice or opinions of others

Social media and word of mouth are separate concepts but a strong social media strategy can influence word of mouth

“Are your advisor, call center and social media strategies built to address word of mouth influences whether they are positive or negative interactions?”whether they are positive or negative interactions?


Theme #2: Digital channels cannot be ignored

Life Insurance

Brokerage Investments

RetirementAccounts and Plans

Property, Home and Auto Insurance

Health Insurance

Usage and Willingness to Use Websites To Access and Manage Accountsg g gAccesses or Manages Account Online (Among all product owners) 26% 30% 40% 46% 41%base size 594 540 581 610 602base size 594 540 581 610 602

Willingness to Access or Manage Account Online (Among product owners who are online at least weekly)

TOTAL POTENTIAL USERS

35% 43% 37% 35% 36%y)base size 365 186 383 476 505


Theme #2: Digital channels cannot be ignored



Digital channels are being used for research, account management and customer service in addition to other channels

Digital channels are influencing purchase intent and consideration Combined with the prevalence of Word of Mouth influences, firms will benefit from

developing these digital contact points and integrating them into the overall customer experiencecustomer experience

Policy holders and shoppers are willing to consume content via digital channels if we give them compelling reasons to look there

“Is your marketing strategy integrating online and offline channels efficiently and robustly?”y y


Theme #3: Current Economic Environment is triggering decision-making

Products Changed as a Result of Current Economic Situation

Among Respondents Who Have Made a Change (n=149)60%

Any Changes to Financial Services, Holdings, or Plans

Among Total Respondents (n=643)

Yes21%

47%57%

41%31%

30%

40%

50%

21%

No79%

26%31%

0%

10%

20%

Life Brokerage Retirement Property, Health Insurance

gInvestments Plans and

Accounts

p y,Home or Auto

InsuranceInsurance


Theme #3: Current Economic Environment is triggering decision-making

Changes Made Due to Economic Situation – Property Home or Auto Insurance

55%Shopped around for a better price for my current policy

Changes Made Due to Economic Situation – Property, Home or Auto InsuranceAmong Respondents Who Changed Product (n=53)

40%

23%

pp p y p y

Changed insurance carriers

Increased the level of coverage in one or more current policies

22%

1%

Reduced the level of coverage in one or more current policies

Other

0% 20% 40% 60%



There is a lot of money in motion as the economy continues to fluctuate

Opportunity to educate policyholders, prospects and advisors on the impact of today’s economic and regulatory events so they can make appropriate decisions

“Environmental factors are driving consumers to makeEnvironmental factors are driving consumers to make changes now. Are you able to target these

reactionary consumers NOW to take advantage of this opportunity?”


Theme #4: Retirement plan participants are making decisions

Changes Made – Retirement Plans and Accounts

33%Rebalanced retirement assets to be more conservative

Changes Made – Retirement Plans and AccountsAmong Respondents Who Changed Product (n=84)

28%

22%

18%

17%

Decreased the amount of my regular contributions

Changed the investment selections for new contributions

Started contributing to my employer retirement plan

I d th t f l t ib ti 17%

12%

6%

6%

Increased the amount of my regular contributions

Rebalanced retirement assets to be more aggressive

Stopped contributing my employer sponsored retirement plan

Other 6%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%

Other



Participants made significant changes in retirement planning due to the bad economy – reducing contributions and stopping participation

Some made moves to be more conservative and some to be more aggressive

These participants are also using digital channels more prevalently thanThese participants are also using digital channels more prevalently than others

“Does your communications and education strategy address these issues effectively, and is it online?”


Theme #5: Life Insurance Decisions are Least Researched and Least Reactionary

Length of Time Spent ResearchingAmong Decision-Makers for Product (n=597)

Usage of Financial AdvisorsAmong Total Respondents

100%Took advice / Very little research 24%

4%

80%

100% FA Decides

g ( ) g p

19%

40%

40%

60%

80%Just a few minutes

A few hours in one day72%40%

60%

80%

FA Makes Recommendations

FA is Not Involved

13%13%

15%

0%

20%

40%Lots of hours over several days/wks

More than a month

72%

0%

20%

LifeLife Insurance

Life Insurance



The majority of decisions about Life Insurance are made with little research and often rely on the recommendations from someone else

Life Insurance is not a topic that Financial Advisors address in the majority of situationsmajority of situations

“Customer experience and active ambassadors working on your brand’s behalf are relevant in this category. Do you have a social media strategy?”


Theme #6: Health Insurance Decisions are trigger-based

Reasons for Opening Plan – Health InsuranceAmong Decision-Makers for Product (n=605)

12%16%

33%46%

A Financial Advisor recommended it

Have not made changes

Friend or family member recommended it

I had a change in my personal situation

1%2%3%

12%

Other

Nothing specific

Employer offered

A Financial Advisor recommended it

1%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%

Other


Strategic Considerations

Health Insurance decisions are made because of changes in life stage or the g grecommendations from friends and family members most often.

Reasons for opening account: 46% had a change in their personal situation and 33% beca se a friend or famil member recommended itand 33% because a friend or family member recommended it

“With healthcare reform forcing a more open, individual market, will your CRM capabilities enable a

robust direct to consumer marketing strategy?”


Sponsorship Opportunities


Sponsorship

Survey Sponsorship includes: access to 12,000 relevant consumer interviews yearly participate in the development of the questionnaire guide direction in the analysis of the findings leverage Merkle’s DataSource to augment findings and segmentation apply your own segmentation strategy for a full view of your

population gain real-time visibility into a deep set of marketplace and brand-

specific factors that affect your own unique business model, vertical focus or even brand-level features

access to Merkle subject matter experts for analysis and thought leadership


Sponsorship

Additional Sponsorship services offered:A l ti S t/I i S i Di t t l t f Analytic Support/Inquiry Service: Direct access to analysts for help with data pulls, data interpretation, custom analytics, trends and other marketing needs

Desktop Reporting Tools: Browser based access to survey dataDesktop Reporting Tools: Browser based access to survey data. Enables deskt5op data manipulation and cross tab capabilities with an easy to use proprietary interface

Strategic Market Reports: More in-depth reports and analysis for a g p p p yspecific industry relevant to the client

Industry Briefs: Delivered monthly as output from the smaller “barometer studies” with links back to the larger study where

l trelevant On Site Briefing: Annual in person visit from an Analyst or Vertical

Lead to help define specific company needs and strategy


Thank You

David MagriniVice President

Insurance and Wealth Management Solutions Group

merklemonitor@merkleinc [email protected]


Driving Marketing Insight through Primary Research...Di dt d f t thtff t tiDesigned to uncover and...

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