Mark Evans of Direct Line: ‘An over-reliance on data can be disastrous’

Mark Evans started in his role at Direct Line in 2012 and is now responsible for household brands such as Churchill, Green Flag and a top-10 spending advertiser in the UK. Since arriving at the company, he has overseen the repositioning of the brand in the marketplace, focusing on a more communicative digital presence.

Ahead of his participation at the Changing Media Summit 2015, we caught up with Evans to discuss his role at the company, the future of marketing in a digital world and the company’s recent high-profile marketing campaign featuring Harvey Keitel of Pulp Fiction.

What was the attraction of a role at Direct Line for you?

There was an opportunity to really rebuild something from the ground up and to go back to basics with the brand marketing. We needed to restructure, redefine and reinvigorate the company.

We bought ourselves time, with the goal of reframing the purpose of insurance. It wasn’t just the case of thinking up one great commercial campaign, it was an overhaul in thinking. We needed to find the unfulfilled need that our users had.

How are new technologies shaping the face of marketing and how is the industry adapting?

New technologies are dramatically changing the way brands and consumers interact. Customers want a seamless experience with a brand as they move between devices. Crucially, consumers are increasingly comparing experiences across sectors whereby it is no longer ok to be the tallest dwarf in your own sector.

At Direct Line, we place a strong focus on how we can improve the customer experience and bring the brand promise to life through the use of technology. Indeed, one of the key focuses for the brand is the intelligent management of channels including social media, supported by appropriate investment in technology, such that we have a holistic view of each and every customer and at every single touch-point our communication is relevant and precisely targeted.

What role has digital played in the marketing strategy of Direct Line?

Digital is one of many channels we use to speak to our customers. We are committed to helping our customers by taking the hassle out of making a claim and getting them back on their feet when they need it most – whether they get in contact with us over Twitter, Facebook or through our contact centres.

To ensure the success of Direct Line’s new proposition, significant investment was made across our customer cycle. For example, we significantly boosted our social media channel management, allowing customers to interact with us via their preferred platform (Twitter, Facebook, web chat) and delivering an end-to-end solution for customers meaning their query could be resolved through their channel or channels of choice.

Is an over-reliance on data damaging creativity in marketing?

An over reliance on data, gathering the wrong data, or indeed trying to be overly sophisticated with data can be disastrous for a brand, company or organisation. It is easy to get swept up in the big data revolution and forget that, ultimately, data is simply a tool for understanding customers’ needs better. Data is a means to an end, rather than an end in itself.

The insurance sector is an industry that depends upon data to accurately assess and price for risk. Indeed, insurance is unique in that it is the only sector which has personalised pricing. But it is also a sector that needs to creatively problem-solve, to engineer, to market and sell customised solutions to a consumer base that needs its products more than ever. At a moment of enormous opportunity, this industry is poised to deliver the innovative products the public is demanding.

What does the internet of things mean for home appliance insurance? Have you had much interest in this field so far?

The internet of things afford us a great opportunity. While it’s not the job of insurers to predict when people with problems, the connectivity of the internet of things means that might actually be possible. We’ve worked a lot with vehicle telematics, and home telematics will be a bigger market than that.

Have you seen any direct benefits from the high-profile, Pulp Fiction-inspired Winston Wolf campaign?

It’s been a really successful campaign. In terms of social media, we were trending on Twitter, which I’m confident enough is an insurance first. The campaign has re-energised the brand, internally as well as in the eyes of our customers.

The character seemed to embody our new outlook as problem-solvers, or fixers, and all the pieces slotted together. Saatchi and Saatchi answered the brief, and found the perfect metaphor. It’s definitely one of my highlights of 2014.

Are brands creating too much content? Is there a danger that content pollution will damage consumer engagement?

Content is cool at the moment. Brands need to be cautious through. People don’t share content because they love a brand, they share it because they love their friends, so companies shouldn’t get carried away with shares and likes.

Mark Evans will be speaking at the Changing Media Summit 2015, see the rest of the line-up here.

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