2016 winner: Vitality, New Brand - case study

This is the story of that rarest of things: a ‘challenger brand’ that genuinely challenges, with a USP that really is ‘U’. Vitality turned what could have been a safety-first renaming exercise into the creation of a radical new brand. A brand on a mission to turn health insurance from something passive and lifeless into a positive catalyst for healthy living.

The problem
By 2014, the number of health subscribers had been in decline for five years. The time was right for a new type of health insurer – but PruHealth was a small brand with a finite lifespan. PruHealth’s product was well placed to minimise the lifestyle risk factors that pose the biggest threat to our health. In contrast to traditional providers, PruHealth proactively encouraged members to stay healthy through benefits like half price gym membership, bikes and trainers.

The strategy
Rather than approaching this as a safety-first renaming exercise, they realised they had a rare opportunity to create a radically new health insurance brand focused on living healthily, not just getting sick - one built on owned, rather than borrowed equity.

The Vitality programme was their key differentiator, and the name perfectly encapsulated the vibrant, positive, challenger spirit. Vitality reinforced this with a confident new brand line: ‘Changing Health Insurance for Good’.

The results
Against a backdrop of a category in decline, Vitality didn’t just weather the risks of renaming, they built a distinctive new brand that is truly changing health insurance for good. Vitality have increased sales year-on-year, launched innovative new services such as smartphone GP consultations - and inspired members to increase the amount of exercise they do each week.

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(Please note: parts of this case study may have been redacted for confidentiality purposes.)