Aviva ready to jettison Norwich Union brand in UK

by Ed Kemp, Marketing 04-Mar-08, 08:45

LONDON - Insurance giant Aviva is preparing to phase out its Norwich Union name in the UK in line with its global brand strategy.

The removal of the Norwich Union name, in favour of the Aviva brand, will be overseen by incoming group marketing director Amanda Mackenzie, who starts in her new role this week. It is understood the RAC brand will remain untouched.

The company had previously claimed that the introduction of its Aviva brand in July 2002 would not be a precursor to dropping its other regional brand names.

Aviva replaced the CGNU identity, which had been in use since May 2000 following the merger of CGU and Norwich Union. It currently uses the Aviva name in most of the markets in which it operates, including France, Canada and the US, but in the UK, Norwich Union and RAC are its consumer brands.

The UK is not the only market in which it retains sub-brands. Other names it uses across Europe include Delta Lloyd, Commercial Union and Hibernian.

Last year, Aviva shed 140 staff from its marketing team and cut its budget from £180m to £100m (Marketing, 20 November 2007).

Mackenzie was not available for comment as Marketing went to press.