Royal London Appoints The Brand Union & VCCP

Royal London, the UK's largest mutual life and pensions company, has appointed The Brand Union and VCCP as strategic brand and communication partners as it transitions to a masterbrand strategy ahead of a relaunch in 2014.

Clare Salmon, group brand director, is leading the brand review and communications strategy. Clare joined Royal London earlier this year and brings a wealth of experience from a number of sectors having previously held senior roles at Vodafone, ITV and The AA as well as leading financial brands Prudential and RSA.
 

Royal London currently operates with a number of distinct specialist businesses having grown rapidly over the last few years through an acquisition strategy that brings the customer base to over 6 million. The business recently announced plans to launch a direct to consumer channel next year, which will be branded Royal London.
 

The Group is seeking to bring closer together its broad portfolio by leveraging the current equity that exists in some of its leading propositions to create a distinct masterbrand positioning with the Royal London brand at the fore. Against the backdrop of the recent financial crisis and waning consumer trust, Royal London is looking to redefine the concept of mutuality and place transparency and trust at the heart of its business.

As lead brand strategy and creative agency, VCCP will build a brand proposition to support the relaunch and drive awareness of the brand in early 2014. The relaunch will incorporate and influence all experiences and touchpoints of Royal London, including all communication channels.

Following qualitative and quantitative research across both consumer and intermediary groups, The Brand Union will develop the over arching architecture and strategy for the Royal London brand. The Brand Union will also be responsible for creating a new visual and verbal identity to build greater brand awareness and standout within the UK life, pensions and investment market.

Clare Salmon, group brand director, Royal London, comments: “These are exciting times for Royal London as our customer base grows and we launch new iniatitives such as a direct to consumer channel into the market. Moving to a masterbrand strategy is our commitment to creating a strong, unified business that understands what customers need, and is organised in a way that can deliver these services.”

 
Andrew Peake, managing director of VCCP, comments:  “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Royal London. The business has a wonderful history and a very clear direction for the future. We look forward to developing the brand together.”

Toby Southgate, CEO of The Brand Union UK & Ireland, comments: “Royal London is the largest mutual life and pensions company with over 150 years of heritage, but despite market leading propositions, the Royal London brand is an under leveraged property.

“Brands today exist in every moment of interaction and they need to deliver a consistent, joined-up experience with a meaningful purpose. We are working closely with Royal London to develop an architecture that will bring Royal London to the fore and supports their ambitions to be a leading customer-owned organisation.”