Client
ERS Insurance
Formerly Equity Red Star, ERS is the UK’s largest specialist motor insurer, working directly with motor brokers to insure their customers. ERS specialises in complex risk that other insurers can’t write. What makes ERS unique is an ability to understand the value or equity that a customer puts in their vehicle and we used this to claim a new insurance category – ‘Equity Insurance’.
When the acquirer of Equity Red Star (ERS) approached ASHA & Co, it was with the objective of restoring ERS to its pre-eminent position as the leading motor syndicate in Lloyd's. This rich and varied world of motoring, and the people within it, had become almost invisible in the corporate and staid brand Equity Red Star had become. The new positioning needed to show how much ERS understood their market, the brokers they worked with and the end customers.
We realised the word ‘Equity’ had lost its meaning for ERS, the word had become just a component in the name. We identified equity as being a significant element of ERS’s strategy - which is an ability to understand the value or ‘equity’ that a customer puts in their vehicle. This gave us a perfect positioning for ERS’s bespoke underwriting.
To underpin the positioning, a defined positioning statement was developed. This was used across all brand communications, from online portals through to printed materials.
Where most motor insurance organisations deliver generic image styles for categories of underwiting, we developed distinctive photography that demonstrated the beauty and equity that their clients hold in their vehicles. We pictured details of specific vehicle types in a beautiful and timeless way. These varied from modern, classic, sports, fleet vehicles, commercial vans and even motorcycles. All images were used across ERS’s brand channels, from brand communications, environments and digital spaces.
We borrowed from a rich visual language which celebrated the history of motoring to develop a suite of symbols for ERS’ insurance categories which embraced the emblems and decals of the automotive industry.
To demonstrate ‘equity insurance’ further, ‘passion and livelihood’ was developed as a concept for talking about how ERS understands customers. This was brought to life through interesting stories that demonstrate ERS’s specialist approach and understanding put into practice.
ASHA & Co delivered us the kind of insight that can really separate ERS from the pack… ASHA & Co has the ability to find insights like this time and again, and this, combined with their implementation capability through the range of media sets them apart.
Ian Parker – CEO of ERS.
Once developed and applied to flagship communications, the principles governing the visual elements of the brand identity were captured in a comprehensive brand guideline.
After the rebrand, ERS delivered their first profit in five years. A profit of £1.2 million, which was a massive increase from the £23.6 million loss they made prior to the project.
Intelligent Insurer Magazine
Our work with ERS has continued and we have created campaigns for their supercar, motor breakdown and agri offers as well as developing and expanding the brand architecture to incorporate partnered events such as the Gumball Rally, broker awards as well as new areas of specialism.
