Introducing Mel Ware

We are excited to introduce you to Mel Ware, the Head of Marketing and Brand. With nearly 20 years in the industry she leads a team that is passionate about driving member engagement. Mel and her team combine member insights with creativity to produce amazing experiences and tools for all our partners. Find out more about Mel and why educating members on the value of insurance is more important than ever.

You joined the Zurich family a few years ago as the Head of Marketing and Brand. What has been a highlight from your time at Zurich?

I’m really proud of the tangible ways we help the community - uncertain times have meant the role we play as a leading life insurer is even more important than ever before. I’m proud that Zurich is providing COVID-19 vaccination protection for life insurance customers at no extra cost. I’m proud that last year we donated over $2.5M to bushfire and COVID-19 relief efforts. I’m proud that across our business we paid more than $1.2billion in claims last year. I’m proud of the many ways our teams try to help members stay protected each and every day.

As society keeps evolving at an unprecedented pace, what do you think Zurich is doing to make a positive impact?

Our purpose is to help Australians have a brighter future. Which is more than the peace of mind our products bring or the support we provide claim time. It also the impact we can have on communities and our planet. So I‘m excited about accelerating our contribution to tackling the climate crisis.

We just announced a series of new measures that will help us cut our carbon emissions by more than 40,000 tons per year globally. This is the equivalent of the CO2 absorbed annually by two million trees. We have already set ourselves ambitious targets to align our business with a 1.5°C future, but we need to act faster, and with a greater sense of urgency.

This ranges from the big – Such as the Zurich Forest in Brazil where our grant covers the planting of 1,000,000 trees. To the small actions that can make a big difference – Like a carbon neutral Australian head office, reducing our emissions from air travel as the world switches to new COVID normal and doubling our efforts on sustainable investments.

Climate change is one of the biggest and most complex risks for our customers, and we see our role on this journey as a must do. 

How has Zurich managed to stay focused amidst the changing conditions of this pandemic?

It’s in uncertain times that our customers need us the most. Our focus has been on growing our capacity and capability to help customers during this time. Looking at what we need to do to help customer navigate the pandemic and looking ahead to what we can do to grow the market.

Over the past 18 months we have had a big focus on our people. Looking after them, so they can better support members. We have a raft support tools and content to help members understand the cover they have, as well as options available and support to keep that cover in place.

Critically we have doubled down on our wellbeing support with the launch for the My Wellbeing Hub – Which is chock full of great tips and tricks to get you through lockdown. And we continue to invest and grow our Claims Rehabilitation Services team to help customers return to the life they love.

As a leading global insurer, we have been looking up and out at what’s next for insurance post pandemic. What the future of work is; seeing how other markets have navigated the regulatory change that’s ahead of us; and looking ahead to new product development. We are excited, that we get to reshape insurance in this new world, and love working with our superannuation and corporate partners to make sure more Australians are protected and have financial peace of mind.

Why is it more important than ever to educate members on the value of their insurance?

I’m a big believer that financial wellbeing is critical to our overall wellbeing - and being in control of our finances gives us choice and peace of mind. Insurance inside super means cover is accessible, but to achieve real peace of mind we need to ensure the cover is understood, covers what the member needs and is used in times of need.

Our research uncovered that customers find insurance complex by design, there are big knowledge gaps, as well as gaps around trust and claims being paid. Now this problem is not unique to us, it’s a category challenge. But where we differ is how we respond to it – through education. Together with behavioural architects, we looked at key moments of truth for customers and built out a library of educational content to simplify insurance and make it more compelling. You are able to benefit from the heavy lifting we’ve done and access our Ready-to-Share Content Hub with white-labelled off the shelf insurance campaigns designed to increase awareness and understanding of insurance.

We also understand the challenge we face engaging the under 25 year old cohort in a PYS and PMIF world, so we have bespoke content and concepts that include articles for member newsletters, social media posts and SMS campaigns.

These have all been behaviourally optimised and road-tested. We’ve curated best practice for your marketing teams to use.

What are the key community initiatives that Zurich is spearheading here in Australia, why are they so important?

In an uncertain world during uncertain times, we want to help our community by providing the knowledge and means to better handle change and risk in our lives and our environment. Our social impact programs are delivered via the Z Zurich Foundation focusing on three strategic pillars: adapting to climate change, improving mental wellbeing and enabling social equity.

By 2024, we aim to create transformative change in the lives of more than one million vulnerable people and positively impact the lives of 10 million others.

And we can’t do this alone. We are proud of our long-term strategic community collaborations such as The Raise Foundation, Beyond Empathy and Variety. It’s through programs like this, that we can make a real difference.

How do you keep motivated during these uncertain times?

It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with what’s happening around us, but to keep grounded I focus on four things:

What I can control: Making sure I put my energy into what I can do, rather than what I can’t do. Some days this is easier than others, but it just means that I don’t waste time oscillating in what-ifs and negativity.

A series of little wins: Breaking down the big job, project or activity into a series of smaller wins. Makes it manageable but gives a real sense of momentum.

Getting outside with a friend: Making sure for my wellbeing I get my steps up, go for a walk and take the time to laugh with a friend. I have really prioritised time with those that help fill my cup and I can help fill theirs.

And cuddles with my kids: At the end of the day, they give me great perspective around what’s important.

Do you have a mentor or someone who inspires you?

While I have loved the support and insights from my formal mentor and coaching relationships over the years, these days I’m enjoying a more informal approach. Instead opting for a community of people who inspire me and whose counsel I seek regularly – This cuts across leadership, the technical side of marketing, building my profile, the commercial side of business and much more.

I like to stretch and develop as much as I can in the roles that I do, and love to learn from those that have been there before me or are doing it differently. So, I have curated a community of mini mentors whose approach I admire, whose opinions I respect and that I trust to challenge me!