"We want to reach people's hearts"

Mario, you've been Head of Brand & Communication at UNIQA since October 2023. How would you sum up your first few months?

The time has passed incredibly quickly and has been very exciting! Lots of topics and  meetings. Getting to know the UNIQA playing field, specifically the international market on the one hand and the Austrian market on the other, getting a taste of sales, experiencing our sponsoring activities. All in all, it was an intensive four and a half months – with a lot of fact-finding, understanding connections and already having my own thoughts on the subject.

You have already travelled through several UNIQA countries. How do you experience the cooperation within the Group regarding a joint brand strategy?

I think it's great what has been achieved so far. The fact that UNIQA appears as a uniform brand with a uniform claim in 18 markets is remarkable. During my previous visits to Poland, the Czech Republic, Serbia and recently Hungary, I got the impression that people are very proud of the UNIQA brand, proud to be part of the UNIQA world. They are motivated, stand behind 'living better together' and there is a strong commitment. Of course, every market is a little different and has its own challenges, but it is still important to act as a unified brand. This will continue to be our main focus in the future: How to emotionally charge ‘living better together’ and translate it into stories that not only appeal to the left side of the brain, but also reach the hearts of people in all our markets.

So, we don't just want to reach people rationally, we also want to reach their hearts. At the same time, we live in a world of constant information overload. What strategies can UNIQA use to stand out here and appeal to people in the long term? 

Firstly, our goal is to communicate 'living better together' – our brand narrative, which summarises our founding purpose and expresses who we are and what we stand for – well and consistently. To translate it again and again through emotional storytelling, to convey it in an exciting way both internally and externally, and to make it clear what we mean in concrete terms. 

Secondly, it's about a good media strategy. To reach the general public, we still need television in many cases, but at the same time we know that we can no longer reach everyone with it. For the younger population, we need social media, especially TikTok. And it's not enough just to be present on the right channel, you also must immerse yourself in people's lives. Simply advertising the fact that we have new products will rarely work. We must be able to address relevant topics and provide them with a certain entertainment value if we want to be recognised. That is a major challenge.

UNIQA is generally progressive when it comes to the new world of work and new tools. At the same time, we are all confronted with rapidly advancing digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and other rapidly changing trends. What does the future of advertising and communication look like in your opinion?

I am one hundred per cent convinced that artificial intelligence is here to stay. Bill Gates predicted some time ago that AI will penetrate all areas of life and massively change how we work, learn, consume medical services and communicate with each other. This means that we in Brand and Communication also must look at the areas in which AI plays or will play a role. This applies to all kinds of assistance functions. There is the quote 'We will never think on our own again'. I think we will increasingly use AI as a sparring partner in areas where we can become more efficient as a result. Where creative thinking, attitude and emotions play a role, we will continue to need human skills. 

Where do you see the biggest challenges or risks?

We all witness fake news every day. This is already a major challenge. Copyright and exploitation law issues that go hand in hand with this are also important questions for Brand and Communication.

And what about chatbots, is there potential for integration in marketing and communication? 

Absolutely, that was also one of my last projects at Erste Group that I was jointly responsible for: Building a chatbot that is fed with the entire knowledge of the website and that of selected advisors. I think that this could also be an exciting service for us at UNIQA if customers can quickly obtain initial information on the most important insurance topics in this way.

What priorities have you and your team set for 2024? 

The overarching topic will be the further development of the brand strategy, specifically how we manage to emotionally charge the UNIQA brand with its promise of 'living better together' so that it is attractive both internally and externally and plays a relevant role in people's lives in all our markets – and remains attractive for future generations. This also requires us to constantly evolve digitally. If more and more products can be purchased end-to-end online, then we also need to adapt our communication strategy accordingly.

Another key project is the communication support for our next Group-wide strategy programme. A major topic of interest in this context is a Group-wide intranet to reach all our employees throughout the Group directly. We are currently collating all the relevant information and preparing a comprehensive basis for decision-making.

We also want to establish standardised brand tracking in our Group, which will provide us with information on how we are perceived locally as a brand and help us to manage the brand strategically. This also includes an intensive dialogue with the Brand and Communication teams in all UNIQA countries. Because we all must pull in the same direction here.

That sounds like a diverse and intensive programme for 2024. Finally, I have one more question: What does 'living better together' mean to you? 

In connection with UNIQA, for me it means being a kind of partner as a brand that understands people's lives, offers relevant assistance for many phases and areas of life that enable people to lead a better life, and communicates this in an exciting and contemporary way. Health in particular is a super relevant topic for the future. Who doesn't want to live a healthy life for as long as possible? As a partner for a better life, UNIQA can contribute a great deal to this.