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Liverpool Victoria Insurance: Does LV = Young, Hip, Cool?: Liverpool Victoria began in 1834 as a friendly society, helping the poorest Britons develop a modest degree of savings. Since then it has grown dramatically, offering a full range of insurance and financial services and products. It is also among the profitable of the with-profits insurers - that at a time when (as we previously reported here), the with-profits are not only in decline but have been hit with withering criticisms concerning the management of inherited estates (essentially cash windfalls due policyholders). The company also earned pre-tax profits of £56.4 million in 2007, a fall from £113.7 million in 2006, but still quite respectable as a "second-tier" firm.

It may be because of that "second-tier" characterization, though, that the company decided to re-brand itself in 2007. Though a solid performer, it had only 2% brand awareness among the public, with many people not even knowing where the company's headquarters are ... (P.S. the answer is Westbourne). The rebranding went far beyond the standard name and logo change though. The venerable company dropped its stodgy image and began chasing, as the Telegraph put it, "the iPod generation." Its former name was dropped in favour of LV=.

Although the Register offered more than a bit of wit as to the unclear pronunciation of this new brand name (which cost £2 million to develop), LV= stated in a press release that the new brand symbolizes warmth with the "V" shaped like a heart, along with the mutuality noted by the "=" symbol - which also recalls its origins. This, while continuing to evoke Liverpool Victoria they hope the new logo will be interpreted as simply "cool."

LV= had already been burnishing its hip, sporty credentials by sponsoring cricket and snooker tournaments (I never thought I'd put those words in the same sentence). Recently, Brand Republic noted that LV= has begun promoting itself among motorcar enthusiasts by teaming up with AutoTrader magazine. Readers there can use LV= post-it notes to mark their favourite cars in the magazine and, hopefully, keep LV= in mind for their finance and insurance needs.

A larger question is will all this help? LV= had long both lamented and bragged that it was the "best-kept secret" in the insurance and financial industry. The rebranding and attendant marketing efforts seem to be directed toward making that secret well-known.

Some analysts, such as those at the Telegraph, have questioned whether these rather expensive marketing drives, including chasing the aforementioned cricket and car enthusiasts, will add to the company's bottom line. The link between a "flashy brand" and "profit" has been tenuous as best - all the more so in the finance and insurance field, where an at least somewhat conservative image appears both inevitable and desirable.

However, the Involve agency, which helped the company internally launch the new brand, stated in the British Association of Communicators in Business (CIB) that LV='s staff was excited about the new brand and was positive it would be a value-adding factor in helping the company meet its performance goals. †

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