4 March 2010
MetaDesign develops look for new ERGO brand

The ERGO insurance group has chosen the experts at MetaDesign to develop its new brand. As part of its new strategy, ERGO will combine the Hamburg-Mannheimer, Victoria and KarstadtQuelle insurance companies into one new brand, to be launched with a new look in the summer of 2010. Until then, MetaDesign’s team will continue the strategic development of the brand’s look, create a new corporate design and monitor its implementation.

Dr David Stachon, head of marketing for the ERGO insurance group, adds: “We aim to make ERGO one of the most important insurance brands on the German market. With one strong brand we will offer a wide range of life and property insurance through both direct and agent sales.”

KarstadtQuelle, a direct insurance company, already took on the new name, ERGO Direct Insurance, in February. In the second half of 2010, the ERGO insurance group will bundle Victoria and Hamburg-Mannheimer, its current brands, under the new ERGO brand. The group’s specialty providers, DKV (health insurance), D.A.S. (legal insurance) and ERV (travel insurance) will continue to operate under their own brands.

With EUR 17.7bn premium income, ERGO is one of Europe’s biggest insurance groups. It operates in over 30 countries and focuses on Europe and Asia. In Europe, ERGO is the number one insurance company for health and legal insurance, and it is one of the leaders in Germany, its home market. Over 50,000 people around the world work for the group, either as full-time employees or as independent agents.

“This transition is a major accomplishment for ERGO, one that places tremendous demands on project planning, brand creation as well as internal and external communication. MetaDesign has a lot of experience in such complex situations. In the past years we supported change processes in companies like Alpiq and Swiss Life. Our clients can benefit from this experience,” comments Bruno Schmidt, partner at MetaDesign in Zurich.