Royal & SunAlliance starts overhaul of global branding

Insurance giant Royal & SunAlliance (RSA) is planning a global overhaul of its corporate brand in an attempt to give it more visibility and reflect its “ambitions”.
As part of the plans, it is reviewing its global creative account to ramp up its
corporate and consumer presence.

It follows the appointment of Clare Salmon as group strategy marketing and customer director in May, as revealed on Marketingweek.co.uk, and marks a change in global strategy.

Previously, each RSA market and region handled marketing locally.
Salmon says RSA has been through “an enormous process of change” over the past three years.

“The perception of the brand across the 127 countries where we operate does not reflect the scale, ambition and competence of the group,” she adds.

The insurer confirms it is seeking an agency network to assist with a six-month, global communications project. The search is being handled by the AAR.

It is not known how much the global account is worth, although a UK spend of £1.4m last year, according to figures released by Nielsen, is expected to rise dramatically
The consumer facing MoreThan spends at least £20m on advertising annually.

Salmon, who sits on the group executive committee and reports directly to
group chief executive Andy Haste, is understood to be leading the review. MoreThan incumbent Fallon is unaffected.

RSA has major operations in the UK, Scandinavia, Canada, Ireland, the Middle East and Latin America.

It is the oldest insurance company in the world still trading under its original name. However, some critics accuse it of having failed to exploit its heritage and brand, when rival insurers, such as Axa and Aviva, increasingly market the corporate brands to give global continuity.