As regular readers of our blog will know, we are social media enthusiasts and have made it a key part of our work to try and show why every brand should at least contemplate its use. I think it would be fair to say that most people see the benefits of LinkedIn as a 21st century addition to the old fashioned networking, but not so many see the benefits of something as eclectic as Twitter, with its fast moving, up to second micro-blogging. It really is a medium where the art is to be in constant touch with it and to actively participate, rather than sit on the sidelines as a watcher. Part of our social media service delivery is to manage the Twitter accounts for some of our clients that use them and we were recently involved in an event that we believe shows the real worth of Twitter.

One of our clients, Howe & Co is probably the best regarded human rights law firm in the UK, if not internationally. They have represented in many high profile cases, not least of which the settlement rights of the Ghurkas, publicly led by Joanna Lumley. With their status, their Twitter account (which only started a month or so back), whilst small in number, counts some highly influential people, one of which is the MP Peter Carroll, himself vocal on all manner of human rights issues.

At around 9.30pm one evening a week or so ago, Mr Carroll posted the following tweet:

"@relresuk @realmissfiona I would think that the lawyers @HoweAndCo could help with this. They fought for the Gurkhas & they are brilliant"

Because we use some of the many social media monitoring tools, we were immediately alerted and responded to the tweet in the name of Howe & Co, inviting some direct follow up. We also forwarded the tweet on to Howe & Co, who similarly responded immediately.

Cutting what could be a long story of the next few hours, the plea for help was on behalf of Jane Worroll, the daughter that had exposed the abuse of her mother Maria at the Ash Court Care Home. As part of an employment tribunal by an ex-employee she was being summonsed to provide her videos in defence of the ex-employee. For obvious reasons, she found this whole idea horribly distressing, especially as the summons had been delivered earlier that evening for her to present them the next morning.

With social networks and Twitter especially sharing the news, it had come to the attention of The Relatives & Residents Association, who support, inform and campaign on behalf of older people in care & who had worked closely upon this case, TV Presenter Fiona Philips, who was involved in the original Panorama programme as well as the subsequent news coverage and as already said, MP Peter Carroll. Adding Howe & Co into the equation it meant that some solid advice was given as well as some much needed moral support. With this in place, Jane Worroll received the help she needed and with the support given, Howe & Co made a firm connection with the charity.

Pleasingly this episode was recognised by Fiona Philips and she reported it and the support given by Howe & Co in her regular newspaper column in the Daily Mirror.

I will leave you to ponder the respective merits here, but for a simple act, well executed and some intelligent thinking by Howe & Co about social media, their whole worth of their business has been lifted into a hugely positive place of its own.

If you'd like to follow either us or Howe and Co. on Twitter then our links are below:

Lamb CMC

Howe and Co.

In a recent survey of 400 nationally represented insurance buyers, a clear message has been given that despite all the advertising and hype, there remains a serious lack of trust in insurance providers.

Just under 73% believe that insurance providers make the terms and conditions in their policies deliberately complicated.
Half believe claims are never paid out fairly.
A third believe that insurance providers expect them to lie about a claim.

The survey was originally carried out on behalf of the CII, commissioned Lamb Creative Marketing & Consultancy Limited in partnership with research specialists, Illuminas. It attempts to understand the buying motivations of insurance buyers and overlay them alongside the perceptions they have of the industry.

Mark Huxley, Director of Lamb, himself a veteran of the insurance industry said "The results of this survey may seem shocking, but in reality, should we be surprised? Probably not, buying insurance is for many, perceived as a distressed purchase."

What is perhaps sad is that at a time when there has never been more insurance advertising, much of it drives price first and foremost, with features and sometimes service then coming in a distant second. Looking at the survey it cannot be disputed that price is a real determinant of converting an insurance sale, with 72% of the respondents attesting to this fact.

However we need to look a bit more deeply. We questioned further about what factors are the most important when taking out or renewing a policy, their replies were clear and unambiguous. 89% stated that they look to their provider to be trustworthy and 79% said that it is important for insurance advisors to have professional qualifications related to insurance.

This whole survey has thrown up some interesting matters to debate here at Lamb. Hundreds of millions of pounds are being spent by the industry on advertising their products. Apart from the choice of celebrity endorsement or comedy character it is hard to differentiate one from another. Do these adverts work? To themselves, undoubtedly they raise brand awareness, in some cases to unprecedented levels. But when aligned to the brand experience that an insurer actually wants to portray, I fear they do not. Clearly the buyers out there are looking for someone to trust and that message is just not getting through. Dare we say that perhaps it is time for the focus to shift.