Entrepreneurs are flooding the booming InsurTech space because they see a huge opportunity to disrupt a stodgy industry that hasn’t fully accepted that its customers are really the ones in control. While this emerging disruption is a threat, our opening speaker believes it’s also a once-in-a-career opportunity. Marketing and research professionals can take the lead in reshaping our business and position our industry to stay relevant in this new age of the consumer. 

Center Ballroom

How can marketers set their content apart, make their messages stand out and get customers to stop to pay attention and interact with their brand on the web? Today’s audiences expect to be entertained and educated all at the same time. That means marketers need to offer useful, engaging information, visuals and content in order to get their message across! Join this session to learn how to create “thumb stopping” moments in the digital world and turn your current materials and content into marketing people want to engage with and use. Plus, take a look at sample case study from the financial services world.

Ryman

Are you struggling to rally colleagues around research findings and push for change? Are you facing a mountain of data as you try to figure out what to do next? Learn how to significantly improve the organizational value of market research through engagement of key stakeholders within your organization, along with communication techniques that compel your colleagues to (really!) pay attention and act on research findings.

Belmont 2

Economic power held by women is on the rise. Understanding the needs of women as working professionals, full-time caregivers, small business owners, and financial decision makers presents an opportunity for financial professionals to provide solutions.  In the workshop you will learn the latest research companies depend on to develop marketing strategies geared to women, and ways to help your advisors craft their approach.  You will also hear from a company who has applied creative techniques and messaging based on what they have learned.

Belmont 1

Seemingly unrelated pop cultural fads all give marketers a glimpse into the lives of consumers.  What makes them engage with these trends? What draws them in?  How can insurance companies capitalize on these movements?  What insurance brands have already done or what they can do to embrace these trends.          

Belmont 3

In today’s super-wired, highly digital society, humans still crave social interaction and relationships. From Facebook to LinkedIn, Twitter to Instagram, it’s important to remember just how powerful it can be to reach beyond the fiber optics and make that physical connection.  In business, creating strong relationships is the key to achieving success.  What’s the secret for cultivating relationships in today’s digital age, particularly in financial services?  No longer do institutions and authority figures hold the keys. Power and influence are shared between client and advisor creating new challenges and opportunities for an entire industry. Seth will dissect how the best financial services firms and advisors are meeting the expectations of more sophisticated and demanding clients while demonstrating how an entirely new set of relationship competencies will be required to compete and win business in this new complex and competitive environment.

Center Ballroom

What is segmentation and how are other companies using it to positively impact their business?  Learn about the pros and cons of the most commonly used segmentation strategies.  One size does not fit all; but there’s a right size for everyone! Learn how to evaluate which one may be right for you based on your business objectives and the data you have available.  Our experts will discuss a variety of methodologies including demographic, attitudinal, behavioral and life stage segmentation, as well as share case studies based on real life examples from inside and outside our industry. 

Belmont 3

Obtaining a fresh, actionable and complete understanding of customer experience has evolved as the “gold standard” of market research today.  To achieve this objective, industry leader Unum developed an intensive process to follow their customers over time and understand the “why” behind their experiences. Working with CSR as their research partner, Unum will give an overview of the program they developed and its applications, while CSR will give the insights on the methodology and management of this study.

Belmont 2

Social Selling is no longer a nice to have but a must have for financial professionals. In an industry built on this is the way it's been done, social selling is changing the way financial professionals run their practices. Learn how to create a culture of social selling within your local agencies starting from the top down by holding financial professionals accountable to using LinkedIn daily. 

Ryman

Companies have struggled to access and engage consumers in working and middle class markets via traditional face-to-face distribution. Recent regulatory changes have accelerated interest in serving these markets through online capabilities. But which consumer groups are most receptive to buying life insurance online? Are there specific strategies that might motivate more people to consider an online purchase? This session will explore the reality around consumer preferences for the online experience.

Belmont 1

With increased global pricing pressure and rapid commoditization of products and services, customer experience (CX) has been called the last remaining sustainable differentiator. Therefore, it is key for organizations to be able to operationalize internal processes that put the customer at the heart of decision making and enable experiences that connect on an emotional level.  This session introduces the key concepts and approach of Customer Experience Journey Mapping as a methodology to analyze and address organizational needs by providing insights and actions necessary to drive customer delight and unlock business value.

Ryman

The power of segmentation comes in being able to use it consistently across the business. Too often highly valuable strategic segmentation research is under-utilized because of a failure to create the right context for a company’s culture, easy ways to work with the segmentation scheme, or clearly communicated benefits of using it in all areas of the business, including sales, product, operations, and the C-suite.

• Discover some of the common challenges to implementing segmentation and how to overcome them
• Understand how to bring employees along the journey of segmentation activation, from awareness, to understanding, to engagement to action.

Belmont 1

In today’s business climate, digital marketing changes at a rapid rate…as does our need to evolve and align our marketing efforts in a digital world. During this interactive panel discussion:

Belmont 2

Learn what it takes to be successful with your consumers.  Hear from leading industry insurance analysts on what you should be aware of to prepare for the consumer of the future?  What do they want? How do they want it delivered? The insurance shopping world is changing, are you?         

Belmont 3

 Social media is fundamentally changing how we communicate with customers across every stage of their buying journey. Join Amy McIlwain as she explores the importance of staying relevant and competitive in financial services in the age of digital, and how enterprises can leverage the power of social media to make an impact on their business, while remaining secure and compliant.  Use this session to develop a better understanding of an exciting digital transformation happening in the customer buying journey and how your organization can benefit from connecting with them at every stage.

Luncheon Sponsored by Hootsuite, Center Ballroom

This session isn't about finding stories in research. It's about designing surveys that ensure compelling storylines . . . regardless of how the data falls out. Like many researchers, you want market research to generate leading-edge insights, the kind that capture intense audience interest. This story-building methodology will get you there, from conceptualizing the research and constructing stories from data to reporting in the form of headlines, each substantiated with a sequence of data. We’ll show examples from large financial and healthcare companies, including a national survey of 875 LGBT Americans, that made this methodology work.  Multi-media presentation with videos, some which might make you cry.

Belmont 1

This workshop will use a case approach for the launch of the HelloLife brand. Follows the path to development from research to mass market launch. Provides insights on the best tools to pick for an Omni channel world. Addresses how to reach advisor distribution audience. Features the development of new Planning tool.                
     

Belmont 2

Technology is constantly evolving, and apps are no exception. What was once groundbreaking is now common place. It’s safe to say the phrase “there’s an app for that” effectively represents the mentality of the modern consumer. Join us to hear from two thought leaders in the industry as they discuss the future of mobile apps in a casual, fireside chat setting. Topics will include how mobile apps should fit into your marketing strategy, what data should you be capturing and why, the benefits of building vs. buying an app, how apps can lead to changing talent needs and more. Audience participation will be strongly encouraged, as speakers will field questions, provide insight and help you brainstorm effective strategies and tactics for introducing and using mobile apps.

Ryman

From historic to batch to streaming, where is your firm on the data continuum?  There is an abundance of real-time data that can be used to anticipate consumer needs and engage them with more meaningful, relevant, and helpful experiences.  What steps can you take to accelerate your firm’s data and analytics maturity?  This session will highlight how organizations can fully leverage the abundant data assets available and showcase examples of what this can look like.

Belmont 3

It’s no surprise that email marketing still holds the top spot as the most effective channel to nurture leads and engage with customers despite the proliferation of smartphones, mobile tablets and wearables. Everyone’s inbox is just one tap or keystroke away. The key is to rise above the noise, distinguish your brand above the clutter that is everyone’s inbox, and maximize the return on your effort in the millisecond you have to get your message across. In this session, we will examine and de-construct best practices via case studies to inform your future email marketing efforts. 

Belmont 3

Listen to representatives from three sides of the Sponsorship world discuss how this form of communication support can provide a vital part of your marketing mix. Moderated by industry veterans, we will look at ways to make sure that your ROI justifies what can be a very expensive ticket.

Belmont 1

Each generation has unique expectations, experiences and values that influence their buying behavior. This session will provide insight into the characteristics, behaviors and preferences of younger markets: Millennials and Gen Z.

• Learn about new research into the needs of these markets
• Discuss effectiveness of specific marketing strategies and campaigns.   

Ryman

A new gaming interface has made a fun and easy way to manage customer's health and lifestyle. The friendly, easy-to-use platform is helping improve diets and fitness, allowing customers to shop for health benefits, and find the best doctor for their needs. It provides all the resources the customer needs to make smarter, more informed choices. In this session, we will learn how using goal setting, motivation tactics, and game mechanics paired with a great user interface can increase your customers' engagement. We will also discuss how you can adapt to any business.

Belmont 2

Drawing from the personal experience of breaking his neck and being told he would never walk again, Bruce passionately delivers a dynamic presentation about the four crucial action steps that must be taken to achieve any goal or dream. Attendees will develop and implement confidence building techniques that really work, and learn to change their belief system to achieve amazing success. They will discover the advantages of a positive mental attitude and how to change frustration and negativity into a “can-do” environment. Bruce will demonstrate the power of setting goals, visualizing them, and following through.

Center Ballroom

What do the music industry and financial services have in common? Both exist in changing environments — pressures on profitability, new sources of competition, changing regulation, and evolving customer preferences. This creates a need for innovative products, distribution, and marketing. This brief presentation will cover the most important trends affecting business in the next five years. It will also include insights on how marketers and researchers can use these trends to identify opportunities and improve their business strategies.

Center Ballroom

Like an aging rock band, marketing has some tunes that live on, but we must also adapt to the audience that’s listening to new alternatives. With new channels, and new distractions, how can we as marketers engage and move our audience to act? Engaging the next generation, and even some of the older generation, requires a new song. This presentation will focus on the key elements of science, from data to behavioral, in marketing and how to connect with consumers who now control their own journey. John’s deep experience in helping financial and insurance clients cut through the clutter and win new business through leveraging data and behavioral science will inspire you to think differently about a new future of connecting with your audience. He’ll share his insights and real life examples of how the application of these powerful ideas can change the dynamics for growth.

Center Ballroom

Traditionally, marketers have collected information to segment their customers/prospects into groups for improved messaging to fuel sales growth and profits.  What's new is the advent of "big data" and the wealth of information available to the marketer today.  The challenge is how to harvest data from databases and make it actionable.  Build upon earlier segmentation sessions and discover the emerging process of targetable segmentation.  We will reveal secrets to overcoming the shortcomings of traditional segmentation. And, we'll review a case study to help jump start your marketing ROI.  

Belmont 3

Do you wonder if you’re investing your digital marketing dollars in the right places? Does your business leverage interactive marketing channels and technologies to drive sales and deepen customer relationships? This session can help you learn about trends driving spend in different digital media and how your strategy compares.  You will learn what is driving growth, how you can inform your budgets and what’s next.

Ryman