A year ago, global insurance broker Howden embarked on an ambitious campaign to bring together its core businesses with a clutch of firms it had acquired in recent years.
The project to establish and solidify a new global brand identity was an audacious ask in a market that has very few internationally renowned power brands.
However, the decision to invest in a uniform brand to support its 500 global offices and 180 UK locations has both established and elevated the Howden name in markets new and old and reinforced its values and purpose through a series of broader marketing initiatives.
When the business relaunched its new brand personality and sunset the legacy identities of Aston Lark, A-Plan, Hyperion, Reich, Tiger and others, it set out with an intention “to look and sound different”.
The identity relaunch was far more than a funky new logo, however. Yes, there was an explicit intention to get the Howden name seen “more often” but the business also decided to harmonise the distribution channels of some of its products.
It built marketing and communications campaigns to better articulate its solutions-focussed approach to client service that was now being delivered in a consistent manner.
The brains behind this campaign is Kate Pennell, Howden’s chief marketing officer, who has led a programme focussed on strengthening the emotional connection of client’s with the Howden brand through a series of brand-focussed marketing activities.
“Research into the need for brand investment has been done time and time again and its merits have been proven,” she explains.
“The reality is you can’t change people’s perceptions of any organisation overnight. Marketers need to sustain a long-term approach and keep reviewing brand tracking metrics at the beginning, mid-point, and end of a campaign.”
When it comes to tracking marketing success, Pennell knows more about it than most. While she joined Howden from credit data group TransUnion in 2023, she spent nearly 20 years at IBM, latterly as the marketing director and CMO for the Nordic region prior to that.
Her sage advice for other marketers, to ensure they get backing for their efforts is to spend time getting to know their stakeholders so they understand how best to present to them.
“Stakeholders more invested in the hard numbers and return on investment will require a different approach from somebody who is more emotionally invested in their clients,” she says.
Corporate focussed
Marketers frequently talk about the need for campaigns and spend to be rooted in the corporate objectives of their respective companies, but all too often these get forgotten in favour or short-term distractions or more immediate stakeholder interests.
At Howden, Pennell has been acutely aware of the need for marketing – and brand, specifically – to deliver for the corporate objectives which have been strategically M&A focussed.
The establishment of a new visual identity with clear communication on the values and purpose of the business has been designed to help acquired businesses assimilate into the Howden group more quickly and efficiently.
For the business, this doesn’t just facilitate smooth post-acquisition cultural transitions, it gives the acquired businesses support to amplify their new status with their clients.
“Our M&A strategy is deeply rooted in cultural alignment, making it easier for organisations with the same values to transition into the Howden brand,” Pennell explains.
“While we might be changing the name above the door, the principles of how we turn up for and interact with clients is synergistic across all our companies.”
The M&A strategy has been trumpeted by the company’s chief executive officer – David Howden – as the key ingredient of its “long-term, sustainable strategy”.
In the group’s most recent results, he said that improving brand recognition had been a strategic
priority. Part of this focus has been intertwined with the strategy behind the company’s selected sponsorship of major sporting events such as the British and Irish Lions rugby, and horse racing at Ascot, The Turf Club, Bahrain and Victoria Racing Club, Australia.
“We have been activating our brand across our broad spectrum of clients, from corporate to high street, across our branches, through social media, and within our messaging,” Pennell says.
“Our focus is on how we can engage with communities and leave a legacy that is impactful for the communities we serve.”
In 2023, Howden became the shirt sponsor for the 2025 Lions Tour to Australia and committed to getting involved in a series of community activities with the Lions Origin clubs. The sponsorship includes an intention to drive forward conversations for an inaugural women’s tour.
In announcing the Lions deal, David Howden said the partnership aligns the business with a unique franchise in elite sport.
“[It] harnesses the collective power of the home nations and the passion and imagination of rugby fans and non-rugby fans alike around the world.
“It is our core employee ownership and the passion and imagination of our people which makes us a different kind of animal in the insurance world, so the Lions feels like a perfect match.”
The established spend on rugby sponsorship by companies in the insurance market is long established. Most recently, Allianz, Gallagher and Royal London have all announced new deals or an extension to existing deals.
Loyalty in a softening market
For Howden, this brand elevation further enhances the emotional connection that its key client
groups have with the business.
“Marketers can tap into and play on emotions, so long as those emotions aren’t incongruent to the brand. You can hone in on a particular emotion, but you can’t manufacture it,” says Pennell.
Howden’s CMO says the same basic principles for building emotional loyalty apply in both B2B and B2C, but one is dialled up.
“Our high-street offering has a brilliant reputation within communities and on review websites,” she says. “We have people that go the extra mile, faces that customers have known for years, and people are loyal to that.”
According to the Chartered Insurance Institute, insurance market cycles usually last around three years and the current hard market started back in 2020, so the next market cycle
phase is already overdue.
With this in mind, marketers are increasingly looking at ways that loyalty and brand value can support their businesses as the cycle begins to turn.
“When there’s price volatility, research shows that strong brand loyalty leads to less price elasticity. The question is not always about price, but how confident the customer feels in a brand’s offering,” Pennell says.
While the CII does not expect “rates to crumble” overnight, it does predict that insurers will have to “start having to fight more for business”.
When this comes to pass, then the value of investing heavily in a strong brand presence should serve Howden well in the coming years, particularly as the insurance market has a relative scarcity of global broking power brands, compared to other areas of financial services.
“The modern definition of a brand is no longer about the logo or the widget,” says Pennell. “It’s about what people think and feel when they see or read something. The only way to make people want to engage with you nowadays is through emotion.
“Whether you’re talking about luxury handbags, cars, or cans of baked beans, there’s very little differentiation within the basic function or performance of each product. The differentiation all comes down to emotion – customers have to want to pay the premium for a reason.”