Zurich Financial Services Group announced that OOO NASTA Insurance Company will operate under the global Zurich brand and the name Zurich Retail Insurance Company Ltd. in line with Zurich’s global “One brand, one Zurich” strategy.
Zurich acquired a majority stake in NASTA in February 2007. It is slated to assume 100 percent ownership by 2010. The Russian personal lines insurer “has already started to implement The Zurich Way best practice approaches in all relevant core business activities such as underwriting, distribution, claims and reserving,” said the bulletin. “As a next step, the NASTA brand identity will be replaced by the Zurich one in the first quarter 2008. The company already has started to operate under the legal entity name of Zurich Retail Insurance Company Ltd. earlier this month.”
Zurich described the “rebranding and renaming” as “a strong signal of Zurich’s commitment to this operation and the Russian market.” It also noted that the Zurich name had already been present in the Russian market through Zurich Insurance Company (Russia) Limited for more than 10 years in the corporate and commercial areas, with personal lines added in 2005.
“With the rebranding of NASTA, Zurich will be the largest foreign general insurer operating exclusively under an international brand in the Russian market and will be able to offer a comprehensive and complementary range of products and services to both individual and corporate customers.”
Zurich’s presence in Russia now includes almost 70 branch offices and over 300 representative offices. These facilities will “be overhauled to take on the fresh new look and feel of the Zurich brand,” the bulletin added. “Zurich will launch a major advertising campaign in the first quarter 2008 to raise awareness of what it can offer to customers throughout Russia. The focus of all Marketing and Communication activities will not only be on end customers but also targeted towards distribution channels and partners, i.e. tied agents, banks and other partners such as car dealers and manufacturers, through whom Zurich successfully distributes its products.”
Lutz Bauer, CEO of Central and Eastern Europe, which encompasses the Russian unit, commented: “With this rebranding, all of our businesses in Russia will operate under the name of Zurich which has been providing trusted insurance services to customers across the globe for more than 135 years. Zurich is ideally positioned to capitalize on the attractive profitable growth opportunities that one of the fastest growing general insurance markets in the world is offering.”
Garry Delba, CEO of Zurich Retail Insurance Company Ltd., added: “Operating under the global brand name of Zurich gives us more opportunities and sets new standards for our business and our customers. I’m delighted that we can make this happen and look forward to realizing the full profitable growth benefits it will bring.”
Source: Zurich Financial – www.zurich.com
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