Marketing of Financial Services – Georgia Supplemental
According to the case Florida seems to be a flourishing prospective market for supplemental insurance. The demographics of the state already show large migration trends resulting in influx of young families coming into the state which is offering them comfort and security with better jobs. According to the 10 year projection of Georgia Supplemental, of the activity in the Florida market, the demand for supplemental insurance is bound to increase. This is because of the increasing members in the household in the future years and the fact that most employers in Florida do not provide complete coverage of expenses through insurance. The case depicts the statistics that this particular segment of the market is to grow at 6-7 percent in the next 10 years.
Another issue which makes Florida an attractive marked for supplemental insurance policies offered by Georgia is that sideline expenses are often not covered under medical insurance policies and Georgia supplemental has managed to tap onto this market by providing policies for large expenses which are not covered by traditional insurance selling companies.
The research conducted n 2003 by Benefits Research Inc. stated that an average family spent just about $500 on dental expenses and only about 29 percent of these expenses was focused on preventive care. Similarly, it was found that only 17 percent of the employers’ n Florida were offering their employees with vision care which is a main product and service provided by the Georgia Supplement. This also shows room for a prospective market which can be captured by the company if it decides to expand into Florida.
Conclusively, according to the information provided in the case it is a very prospective and fruitful venture for Georgia Supplemental to expand into Florida. The decision of the expansion may be somewhat biased as well as a costly one due to the CEO’s affiliations with the state but the statistics and records show that the market is ripe for the kind of products offered by Georgia and the company expansion would prove to be successful in the coming years.
What is your assessment of the proposed direct mail campaign and the promotional letter?
Direct mail has already been a successful mode of promotion for financial services and products like credit cards. The assumption in this case is that by using direct mail technique to inform the employers in Florida about the products offered by Georgia the company would be able to promote its product to their future market. This is an appropriate strategy as it tends to drive traffic to the store, generate and increase sales for the company as well as help generate interest and promote the products by promoting brand recognition and cultivating long term relationships with the clients.
However, more perseverance is required on the part of the company. It is mentioned in the case that the CEO has contacts in the Florida region. The company can use these contacts as well as the referrals of the satisfied customers in its other markets to build trust and awareness of the company and its products and services in the Florida market.
This can be done by sending out promotional letters by direct mail as mentioned in the case. However another more personalized method would be to hold an event or a conference in Florida where the prospective employers and satisfied customers from other markets could be invited, a promotion pitch can be shown to them and the event would also enable the company to build long term business relationships with their prospective clients.
This method of promotion would be more expensive than direct mail and likely to drive up the expenses for the company. This method can even support the direct mailing as it would help attract more customers while maintaining the current ones and helping retain them as well.
Reference
- Wolf, K., (1998), Planning a Successful Direct Marketing Campaign, WGSC Publications, available at: http://cpa.utk.edu/pdffiles/adc9.pdf
