Australia's leading private health insurer, Medibank Private, has unveiled a "refreshed" consumer brand as part of broad, strategic plans to reposition Medibank Private and reinforce its market leading position.
The refreshed brand will highlight the strength of Medibank Private's suite of health insurance products and services, and is a critical part of the company's business strategy.
It will position Medibank Private as the fund-of-choice among health insurance consumers. Medibank Private covers some three million individuals, representing almost 30% of the domestic private health insurance market.
Medibank Private will continue to use its well-known tagline 'I feel better now', but in a break with tradition a fresh, contemporary logo has been developed which will be rolled-out throughout the business over the coming months.
The logo and associated imagery was developed by Medibank Private's consumer marketing group and design firm Cato Purnell Partners, and repositions the brand among young independents, couples and young families market segments in the myriad of health insurance providers.
Medibank Private Managing Director George Savvides said the refreshed brand formed a critical part of the company's business plan, and aimed to capture interest from emerging younger age markets, while sustaining membership contributions from 'baby-boomer' and traditional markets.
"We want Medibank Private to attract and retain these members as they move through their life and reinforce our strong product offerings," Mr Savvides said.
He said the company conducted wide-ranging consumer research into how Medibank Private was perceived in the market, the results of which formed the basis of the look and feel of the new brand.
"Our research showed there was a tremendous opportunity to build on the appeal of our previous brand, which had served us very well for the past 5 years," Mr Savvides said.
"The look and feel of our new brand attempts to position Medibank Private as a more friendly, approachable and flexible fund - precisely the brand values we are trying to foster across the whole of our business, along with our emphasis on affordability".
Mr Savvides unveiled the new brand at the company's 2003 Annual Results announcement. Medibank Private posted an operating surplus of $10.4 million for the 2003 financial year, a $185.9 million improvement on the previous year's result.
He said it was entirely appropriate to unveil the new brand at the end of what had been a strong turnaround year for Medibank Private.
Medibank Private's Head of Marketing, Ms Lisa Henderson, said extensive member and consumer research to gauge the value of a new brand offering was critical to the company's new brand, logo and positioning.
"Reaction has been overwhelmingly positive and confirms our success in developing a brand that is more contemporary, fresh and appealing to a broader segment of the community," Ms Henderson said.
Research showed the new brand was 'more modern', 'welcoming', 'less institutional' and as one respondent said, 'your parents would still feel OK going there, but it looks like it's for younger people now'.
"This new brand demonstrates to our members, our Australian Government Shareholder and our staff that Medibank Private is a progressive and vibrant organisation, not satisfied with the status quo, and committed to prudent and responsible action when we see opportunities for growth and improvement," Mr Savvides said.
The launch of the new brand will be supported by a national television advertising campaign featuring the voice of one of Australia's favourite singers, Kate Ceberano. Radio and outdoor advertising, and a new website (www.medibank.com.au), will also feature prominently in the campaign, with re-branding of the 100 plus retail outlets to be progressively rolled-out.
Members will receive their new-look Medibank Private membership cards from October 2003.