Irish insurer FBD has launched a €2.5 million rebrand aimed at winning new business after a couple of years in which the company was involved in restructuring and downsizing.
This will involve a major media advertising campaign that will run throughout the year, and a new logo featuring an oak tree. It is designed to refresh the brand, and underline the fact that FBD is Irish-owned and has been supporting local communities since 1967, when it was founded by a group of farmers.
The ad campaign uses the tagline “Protection. It’s in our Nature”, and will begin today across television, radio, out-of-home and digital.
Commenting on the move, FBD's chief commercial officer Jim Ryan said: "This was a big strategic decision for us, and one that we've been excited to unveil. FBD has been through a period of significant change and, with the refreshed brand, we're aiming to remind customers of our support for almost 50 years while remaining true to our roots.
“Over the past number of years there has been a real commoditisation of insurance where people only looked at price rather than stability when they chose their insurer. We’re a company that has a long history of protecting people, farms and businesses in this country, and we will continue to protect them.”
Mr Ryan told The Irish Times that the new campaign reflected the fact that FBD now has a slimmed down, more focused business, having axed its Nononsense.ie brand, and exited a leisure and hotels joint venture.
“This brings the brand back to life after a period of absence in the market,” Mr Ryan said. “We thought the time was right.”
Market share
The company now operates as FBD Insurance, with a market share of about 13 per cent (it has a share of around 80 per cent among farmers).
FBD said the oak tree logo represented its long-standing commitment to the protection of its 500,000 customers. The company has about 900 staff and 33 branches across the State.
Creative agency Y&R Ireland was behind the new advertising campaign, while the television ad was directed by Dublin-based award-winning film director Ian Power. The director of photography was Games of Thrones's PJ Dillon, while the voice-over was provided by actor John Kavanagh, who has appeared in many films including Neil Jordan's The Butcher Boy and Oliver Stone's Alexander.
FBD, which is led by chief executive Fiona Muldoon, is due to publish its annual results this month. It made a loss of €3.7 million in the first half of last year, but said it would return to profitability in 2017 following the implementation of a turnaround programme.
