Always at the sharp end of business-to-consumer interactions, life and health businesses generally have to be ahead of shifts in customer expectations and demands in order to outperform. We spoke to AXA Asia and Africa’s Mr Gordon Watson about the importance of strategy and planning.
Modern life businesses play an endless game of adapt and survive – with customers, with regulators and with market realities. Long-term planning has to dovetail with short-term realities as once-cumbersome businesses become increasingly adaptive to opportunities and threats.
We caught up with AXA Asia and Africa CEO Gordon Watson to understand the overall strategy of the group as well as where the focus will be in terms of business lines in the immediate future.
Five imperatives
Mr Watson began by outlining the basics of the business plan. “Last December, AXA announced its 2023 strategic plan, which is designed to deliver sustained earnings growth, driven by all our geographies,” he said.
“It focuses on five actions: Expand heath and protection; simplify customer experience and accelerate efficiency; strengthen underwriting performance; sustain our climate leadership position; and grow cash-flows across the group. This focus builds on the success of our 2020 vision, which reshaped the group into a simpler and more focused organisation,” said Mr Watson.
“While our Asia and Africa business contributes to these goals, the region represents the growth engine of the future for AXA and we pursue a strategic approach tailored to our local priorities. In particular, we are driven by a shared focus on health that addresses both the physical and mental needs of our customers, alongside protection services to ensure that they have the confidence to thrive.”
“In our Africa markets, the approach is aligned with the needs and opportunities in the local environment. For example, in response to the need for modernised healthcare, AXA Egypt has developed AXA OneHealth, an integrated approach that delivers medical services through own-brand centres leveraging the latest digital solutions. That offers convenience, quality and accessibility for customers. In Africa, our entities also achieved very solid growth,” he said.
Reassessing markets
How recent acquisitions or divestments by AXA fit into this strategy will be of great interest to many market players. “Earlier this year, we announced that AXA Asia will expand to include Africa, select Middle East markets and additional Asia markets, becoming AXA Asia and Africa,” said Mr Watson.
“This is a significant milestone to drive synergies across these growth markets, with particular opportunities in the area of health. The expanded remit also incorporates AXA emerging customers, our unit focusing on addressing the insurance needs of the low-income to mass-market segments, who are largely under-insured due to a lack of access and familiarity with relevant, affordable insurance solutions,” he said.
The insurer’s ambition is to become the first insurer for emerging customers by offering inclusive, innovative and accessible solutions. “Many of this demographic are located in our Asia and Africa markets, and so bringing that expertise closer together will enable us more effectively to deliver an holistic approach to our customers,” said Mr Watson. “Ultimately, in Asia and Africa we have a unique set of assets across established and high potential markets where we are deploying our vision, notably in health and protection, bringing high value products and services to our customers.”
Shifting customer demands
There are many significant factors redefining what customers ask from modern insurers – and interpreting these shifting trends is essential to survival.
“Two of the most significant trends that have shaped our business in recent years have been the growing demand for holistic health solutions by customers and the opportunities presented by new technologies to deliver value-added services,” said Mr Watson. “These pre-dated the pandemic, but the disruptions it has caused over the last 18 months has accelerated both areas.
“We had already been working to integrate mental health support across our offering, but this proved prescient as the unprecedented strain of lockdowns and social distancing have led to growing concerns around our collective mental wellbeing, to the point where some have called mental health the next pandemic.”
Monitoring customer feedback
There are multiple metrics used by insurers to gauge customer satisfaction levels - with both products and services – and staying attuned to these is critical.
“We use a variety of metrics and methodologies to ensure we are attuned to our customers’ needs and feedback,” said Mr Watson. “In particular, net promoter score remains a benchmark of whether we are on track in effectively fostering brand loyalty. Our continued growth, reflected in our financial performance, also underlines how our business has continued to thrive on the back of customer satisfaction.”
Like many other insurers, AXA also spends time planning for future changes in business essentials like headcount, distribution channels, products and branding.
“Health is a fundamental need that we expect to remain a foremost priority to support sustained growth,” said Mr Watson. “Over the next five years, we will continue to explore where we can impact better health outcomes for everyone, regardless of race, gender or age … We will also continue digitalising our services in line with our commitment of moving from being a payer, offering policies and handling claims, to a partner, supporting customers’ holistic wellbeing.”
Branding
The AXA brand is seen as a vital asset in the company’s ongoing transformation. “Our positioning ‘know you can’ symbolises AXA’s ongoing promise to its customers, of being the encouraging partner who helps them feel more confident to achieve their goals and go further, empowering them to live a better life,” said Mr Watson. “This promise continues to evolve, underlining our role as a builder of individual and collective trust. Overall, we see Asia and Africa continuing to progress in their role as the growth engines for AXA Group. Our strategic priorities will enable us to strengthen and differentiate our capabilities further to ensure we are positioned to outperform.”
Diversity and inclusion
No modern insurer can afford to ignore inclusion and diversity - and AXA is no exception.
“Our commitment to inclusion and diversity is vital, both in enabling us to get the best from our people and attracting talent, as well as building our brand in the eyes of customers,” said Mr Watson. “Particularly in an era shaped by flexible work practices, we want to ensure we create an environment where everyone can feel they belong, are included and can thrive. To that end we have championed LGBT awareness internally and externally, while also successfully building a gender-balanced team.”
“As one of the world’s largest insurers, we want to lead by example, so we monitor and measure our inclusion and diversity actions covering areas including gender, LGBT+ and mental health,” said Mr Watson. “We expect these areas of focus to evolve over time, to reflect our achievements and to keep us progressing.” M