8JULY 2019IN MYOPINIONIt has become a habit, even a reflex, to marry an all tech innovation with tech promotion. The quintessential example is the now requisite Apple-esque rollout event with flashy graphics, a Facebook Live feed, a fawning audience and a hip geek in blue jeans striding the stage with a wireless microphone riding his ear. So when the innovation group of Aflac started explicitly asking that promotional elements be excluded from our rollout plans, or at least delayed for some weeks after launch, we had a lot of explaining to do.It has now become a selective, though sanctioned practice in this $36B market cap voluntary insurance company to hold our strong and substantial promotion horses until the tech team gains an initial assessment of customer reaction to newly fielded technology. Until and unless those two steps are divorced and considered separately, we can never be sure if we are measuring the value of the tech or of the promotional efforts. In other words, our view is that if you really have designed an innovation with the customer in mind, you should be able to generate adoption without promotion. The device/widget/app/badge/gadget should be so useful, so intuitive and so welcomed that it creates its own gravitational pull. Recently, we've had several chances to test that theory.Take mobile. The insurance industry has been servicing customers through mobile apps for years, most obviously in auto insurance, where simply snapping a picture of your dented fender now initiates your claim. However, in Aflac's category of Life and Health, the migration to mobile apps has been slower. When Aflac launched its mobile SmartClaim® app in the last days of 2017, we posted with no advertising, no press release, no boosted social media, etc. But for the first time in our company's history, policyholders could confirm their coverage, open a claim, upload required documents, track claim progress, shepherd payments to a direct deposit account and contact customer service--all via their mobile device, all without talking to a single human being. As of October 2018, we have seen 250,000 downloads and more than 200,000 mobile-filed claims. User comments--the most authentic promotion of all--are generally glowing. On a 5-star rating scale, we are at a 4.7 and we still haven't put any real media muscle behind it, other than this article. So, I suppose now the cat is out of the bag; however, it is more than reassuring to know that we got the tech right, based on organic downloads and reviews.That's not to say that we go to the market blind. Like all effective innovation groups, we depend on insights to drive IF YOU BUILD IT, THEY WILL COME... OR NOTTHE VALUE OF SINK-OR-SWIM TECH ROLLOUTSBy Keith Farley, Vice President of Innovation and Customer Experience, American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus(Aflac)
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