What is a brand?
In general, a brand represents a promise about what a client or customer can expect from a product, a service, a company or a profession. When most people think of a brand, they think of major consumer companies, such as McDonald's, Coca-Cola or Starbucks. But brands are not just for consumer goods, and they involve much more than having a well-known logo or catchy tagline. A brand is a collection of perceptions about a company, an organization or, in this case, a profession. It is a commitment, incorporated into everything the profession says and does.
In the case of the actuarial profession, the brand represents what actuaries are like on their best day and the promise they make to employers, clients, partners and each other. It is both the substance and symbol of the profession.
Why brand the actuarial profession?
There are several reasons that revitalizing the brand for the actuarial profession is important.
- It will help the profession get credit for its hard work and unique contributions from employers and clients.
- A strong brand gives an edge over competitors, which, in this case, is increasingly important for actuaries as they seek to leverage their skills in new and more influential roles.
- The brand will help actuaries be more widely recognized for their uniqueness as 21st century thought leaders, as risk managers, and in new fields and roles, such as broader financial services and enterprise risk management.
Who is the target audience?
As we work to be more widely recognized as 21st century thought leaders, we have four priority audiences:
- Actuaries
- Traditional Market Employers - Insurance
- Traditional Market Employers - Benefits
- Nontraditional Market Employers - Broader Financial Services
What was the process to develop a new brand?
The first step in developing the profession's brand positioning was for us to ask actuaries how they view themselves on their best day - their outstanding attributes, values and the benefits of their contributions. Combined with previous research, this then yielded a list of prevalent themes.
We wanted to see how their viewpoints resonated with employers and clients. To accomplish that, more than a dozen interviews were conducted with senior business executives from Fortune 500 companies representing the traditional, benefits and broader financial services perspectives. The purpose of this phase of the project was to assess reactions to a messaging framework, including potential positions and supporting messaging statements designed to highlight the best qualities of actuaries. This research helped us develop our brand positioning, tagline and key messages.
How are the North American actuarial organizations participating in this effort?
The SOA has been engaged in ongoing dialogue with the other North American actuarial organizations throughout the entire discovery and development process. Known as the Image Advisory Group, it includes representatives from the following organizations:
- American Academy of Actuaries
- American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries
- Canadian Institute of Actuaries
- Casualty Actuarial Society
- Colegio Nacional De Actuarios
- Conference of Consulting Actuaries
- Society of Actuaries
This group, as well as members, candidates, SOA sections and employers have been involved in the process and have reviewed all work including the findings of the C-suite research, discussed the brand positioning as well as potential taglines and key messages.
Now that the brand positioning and message platforms are finalized, we are working with the partner organizations to assist them in promoting the brand within their respective organizations and to their members. The next phase involves engaging the entire profession to take the messages to the outside world ... to start telling our stories. For this phase to succeed, it will require the efforts of all North American actuarial organizations.
We have applied a proven branding model to understand, describe, and articulate the North American actuarial profession's strengths and develop a compelling brand promise. Explore the Brand Octagon below to learn more about the foundations of our brand.