Challenge

As the pioneer of the original marine pollution policy and with 30 years of experience and unparalleled clean-up response, The Water Quality Insurance Syndicate (WQIS) was the leader in the niche marine pollution insurance industry. Despite their leadership, however, they had been experiencing a slip in market share for five years.

The challenge was to reverse this five-year market share slide and re-position their brand in a way that would exemplify their superiority in terms of response, financial backing, know-how, and coverage.

Our strategy was to transform WQIS by positioning them as a symbol of quality for the marine community. Their updated logo was developed as a mark of strength and leadership and the newly created tagline - Sail with Experience - reinforced their history and knowledge in this category.

We launched the new brand with an advertising print campaign entitled "Strange things can happen" that highlighted the unpredictable things that can happen at sea and that put ship owners and operators at risk for pollution liability. The launch was supported with direct mail, brochures, PR, trade show materials, and HTML email blasts. And, to solidify their place as the leading marine pollution insurance company, their newly designed website introduced innovative tools for brokers that became the go-to site for industry information. Search Engine Optimization propelled their site to page one in search engines for key search terms, further supporting their positioning as a company of quality.

Results

WQIS' market share stopped slipping and has risen consistently since it re-branding. And, with the addition of new products, WQIS is now clearly the largest provider of marine pollution insurance in the United States.

For further information contact:

Paul Blakely
212-243-2022 Ext. 302

paul@thejamesgroup.com