In Financial Services, Storytelling Is More Important Than Ever
Switching from the tangible CPG world to FSI was a welcome adjustment for Russ Findlay, VP of marketing at international specialty insurer Hiscox.
Russ Findlay is the head of marketing for the U.S. at Hiscox, an international specialty insurer with a 115-year history. Prior to Hiscox, he worked in consumer packaged goods with companies including Unilever, Pepsi, and IHOP. In this podcast, he discusses marketing in general and his career path from CPG to the world of financial services.
For Findlay, working in financial services presents a unique challenge because of the intangible element inherent in the category: “Having a product that you can’t see it, you can’t hold it, you can’t go to a store and look at it—it’s something that you have to convey to the consumer and the consumer’s mind,” Findlay said. “That makes storytelling and how you bring the product to life even more important.”
Highlights from this week’s “Marketing Today” podcast include:
- CPG and financial services: how the product gets to market is surprisingly similar. (2:00)
- Moving from a role in CPG to financial services: the switch to the “intangible.” (4:20)
- Digging into the marketer’s toolbox. (7:38)
- Obstacles as a pathway: going to market in unconventional ways. (10:00)
- Motivating through “positive” risk. (12:50)
- The CMO’s role as an influencer. (18:00)
- Rapid change and shifting landscapes: the future of marketing. (28:00)