Embracing the new brand within Union Assurance

While Union Assurance moved from a platform of care to a platform of trust, the company declared that the dynamic change in its brand would not have been possible or successful without the efforts of its employees.
Brigadier Rohan Jayasinghe-General Manager Human Resources explained that even if the firm invested millions of rupees in a new brand image, it would not reach the people nor would it succeed unless the workforce took it forward. “The success of Union Assurance is its employees and we wanted our employees to believe in it and trust the change,” he pointed out. “It’s an interesting and exciting time within Union Assurance and all of us are extremely fortunate to serve during this groundbreaking juncture.”
With twenty years of continuous innovation and accomplishment in the insurance sector, Union Assurance (UA) transformed its image to a new look, a new brand and a new logo early this year. The brand now symbolises its new value proposition of trust by combining a warm orange and a firm grey in an unbreakable link of energy and strength.
Jayasinghe added that the entire company with a workforce of 2800 empowering 50 plus branches across the island, was aligned to embrace this new opportunity. “We urged our employees to live the brand since the change, both in and out of work, as that is the only way to truly embrace it.”
He pointed out that the focus now is on a platform of trust, and this platform is based on the three strong pillars of transparency, convenience and respect. Jayasinghe said that the employees of Union Assurance ensure transparency to customers with a ‘what you see, is what you get’ approach and delivering on their promises every time. “Our workforce also ensures that our customers are served to his greatest convenience and respect is encouraged overall. From respect to the customer to respect to fellow employees, this is an important pillar within the new brand.”
Explaining further, Jayasinghe emphasised the new HR initiatives launched within the UA realm complementing the new aspirations of the company. The Talent Management initiative, he stated, is the biggest of these endeavours. This would facilitate clear-cut career paths and create a “Talent Pool” in which all the movers and shakers in the company would be identified for future promotions and appointments. This would also enable the management to plan for succession and create retention strategies. Every effort has been made to ensure the philosophy of UA being “A Great Place to Work,” he stated.
The process of rebranding the iconic Union Assurance image however, came after extensive research. General Manager Marketing and Distribution - Rukman Weeraratne explained, “We at Union Assurance kept our ears to the ground and felt the heartbeat of the consumer clearly.
We know what they are looking for and have equipped ourselves to service their needs.”
The new brand look combines sunshine orange which represents energy, joy and happiness with gray, which denotes a concrete colour of strength and stability. “The logo is also easy and flexible to the eye with no rough edges,” he pointed out. “It reflects us as a company. We are easy to deal with and flexible.” The new brand also comes with a new and timely tagline, ‘Trust in your tomorrow, today’.
As a composite insurance company, dealing in both life and general insurance business, Union Assurance operates across all segments of the insurance market. The company carries a comprehensive portfolio of services across fields such as marine, fire and motor insurance, as well as medical insurance, personal accident and other liability covers. While 2009 may have been a challenging one for many corporate firms, Union Assurance emerged with a successful year behind them.
The company was endorsed as the Best Insurer in 2009 after winning the coveted National Business Excellence Award and has been consistently winning the trust and the confidence of the people.