Fidelity Life puts its staff in the spotlight in new brand + digital refresh via Goodfolk + Phosphor

Employees from insurance agency Fidelity Life have taken starring roles on its new website as part of the company’s brand refresh and digital transformation.

The website, a joint project between digital design agency Goodfolk and web development experts Phosphor, features Fidelity Life employees as the human faces behind the services the company offer.

Jeff Watling, pioneer – digital customer platforms and experience at Fidelity Life, says Goodfolk spent time inside the company talking to staff which led them to propose creating digital content based around their stories.

Says Watling: “By doing this, Goodfolk tapped into the essence and culture of the company which is about great service, trust, and compassion.”

Goodfolk general manager Benn Winlove says purchasing insurance is very intangible so it wanted to turn the focus on Fidelity Life’s employees, their expertise and what they offer their customers.

Says Winlove: “A quote from Reeta Anthony, who’s the head of claims, summed it up for us when she said: ‘We’re in the business of paying claims. We want to pay them’. That sentiment goes against many peoples’ perceptions of insurance companies but it rings true at Fidelity Life.”

For Watling, the website showcases the people behind its services rather than simply the service it provides: “When our customers contact us, they are quite often dealing with traumatic life experiences, and it’s the customer facing team who deal with these situations in a very compassionate yet highly efficient way.

“The new website highlights our friendly staff and reflects the affinity they have with our customers. But, at the same time, it’s also highly functional, easy to use and informative.”       

The launch of the new website, which coincided with a brand refresh, is the first stage of Fidelity Life’s ongoing digital transformation.

Watling says this transformation had to start with the website because the old one “was a glorified PDF document at best.

“It was basic, it wasn’t maintained properly and the information was outdated and this stemmed from the old way of thinking around how to administer a website.”

The company’s digital engagement journey began by sitting down with Goodfolk and Phosphor for a Fidelity Life “history lesson” to ensure they knew what the company stands for and where it was headed.

Key to creating the website was to retain the essence of what Fidelity Life was about, and maintain its 44-year legacy as a leader in the insurance industry, while aligning with the brand refresh and helping to future proof the business.

Goodfolk, whose website work also includes Auckland Council’s OurAuckland site and the recently launched Auckland Libraries website, tapped into the employees to create engaging and meaningful content. Phosphor’s technical expertise helped bring this content to life with a contemporary and efficient online platform which offers customers – and potential customers – a seamless user experience.

Key to the website’s success was servicing existing customers and ensuring they had everything they need at their fingertips.

This meant providing basics, such as the Fidelity Life story through to essentials such as being able to make a claim online and change your contact details.

Watling says small subtleties such as the grey and white screen that acts as an attention holder before the background video begins is an example of how the functionality is simple but clever.

Says Watling: “The user experience is first class and intuitive which makes the new website an anchor for us to build on as we move onto the next stage of our digital engagement and growth as a company.”