AXA Insurance has called a review of the £12m direct
marketing account for its AXA Direct operation.
The review will see the incumbent of two years, Rapier, pitted against
WWAV Rapp Collins, Proximity London, TBWA/GGT Direct and one other
agency.
It is being overseen by Hywel Jones, marketing manager for AXA Direct,
who joined the company from Norwich Union earlier this year.
AXA Direct promotes household and car insurance direct to consumers and
spends about £12m on DM each year. The review has been triggered
by the arrival of Jones and a desire to test the marketplace after the
two years with Rapier.
"In order to maintain a high-quality roster of agencies, we are
investigating a number of possible opportunities," said Jones. "This is
part of our standard business practice. Rapier has been asked to repitch
as part of this exercise."
Pitches are expected to take place shortly, with a result by the end of
the year.
The AXA Direct operation is the third major slice of the group's
business to be reviewed in recent weeks. The £10m AXA Sun Life
Direct account recently moved to Proximity London, while sister brand
PPP Healthcare is also reviewing its DM business, with a result expected
imminently.
AXA, the UK's third-largest general insurer, behind market leader CGNU
and Royal & Sun Alliance, has been under pressure from falling insurance
rates and growing competition in the motor and home insurance
markets.
It has undergone a major shake-up this month with the departure of chief
executive Andy Homer after three years in the job.
Homer, who as chief executive since 1999 had been responsible for the
integration of the general insurance operations of Guardian Royal
Exchange after it was bought by AXA, has been replaced by Peter Hubbard,
the director of strategy and planning at Lloyds TSB.
Earlier this month, the French insurance company reported a 2.5%
like-for-like rise in revenues for the first nine months of the
financial year, held back by the slowdown since the September 11
terrorist attacks.
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