DIG Insurance & Business Magazine Summer 2018 | Página 5
FEATURE STORY
invigorating. A fresh brand, new name and
identity would connect the firm’s legacy to
its future, while establishing a direct voice
that is relevant and personal.
BY: LAURA DEELEY BREN, CIC, ASLI
PRESIDENT, DEELEY INSURANCE GROUP
Laura is a second generation insurance agent.
With over 17 years of insurance and leadership
experience , Laura devotes her time to
developing the vision for the firm and working
closely with her team to make it a reality. Laura
is a Director for the Bank of Delmarva and also
serves as the Co-Director for the local district of
the Eastern Surfing Association. Laura resides
in Ocean City, MD and can be found surfing or
boating with her husband and 2 sons. Want
to connect? Laura can be reached at 410-213-
5567 or [email protected]
“We want to be bold and bring a certain
level of energy to what we do—but there
is also a balance in the way we use our
expertise to actively serve our clients,” says
Laura Deeley Bren, President.
“We had a lot of assumptions about
what people thought about us—but we
didn’t know for sure,” says Beth Bell, Vice
President of Operations. “The brand now
matches who we are.”
FINDING OUR VOICE
The rebranding process is a deep-dive
discovery that includes assessing the
existing brand and our competition. It
involves in-depth interviews with the
initiated a company-wide survey. They
reached out to our employees, clients and
other stakeholders to gather insights.
We found out that our energetic culture
was not lost on clients, but we weren’t
presenting ourselves that way online or
through the content we distribute. We
also learned that our name was confusing,
and many of our Client Advisors were
using iterations of it when speaking
to prospects, like “Cropper Deeley” or
“Atlantic Smith.” (More on that later.)
Kelly Farrell, president, designRoom,
relates that our transition in leadership
and competitive position in the
marketplace made it an ideal time to
rebrand. “Laura and her leadership team
had re-energized the firm during the
last five years. The culture evolved as
they focused on growth and redefining
DEELEY INSURANCE GROUP LAUNCHES
A NEW BRAND AND IDENTITY
H
ow do you capture focused
energy—how do you define
the positive way we advise
clients and our passion for
doing the right thing? How do
clients perceive us, and how do we talk to
them about who we are, what we do and
how we can help them?
WHO ARE WE, ANYWAY?
Rebranding is a pivotal journey where
you ask the tough questions and listen to
the answers. As a firm, Atlantic/Smith,
Cropper & Deeley recognized we needed
to pin down these answers to clearly
define who we are and where we’re going.
Our team needed a unified platform so
we could go to market with confidence
and own the energy that differentiates
us. Our clients needed the clarity, too. So,
we launched a comprehensive rebranding
process in 2017.
Rebranding is revealing. It makes you
vulnerable. It grounds you. You look at the
firm inside and out. Also, rebranding is
executive team, employees, clients and
other stakeholders. “Everyone had the
ability to comment on who we are and
what it is like to be a part of our team,”
Deeley Bren says.
The process is intentional and deliberate.
“The intent was to stay very focused on
the end results, and to work through the
process,” says Cindy Hall, Vice President
of Sales.
To accomplish this, Atlantic/Smith,
Cropper & Deeley partnered with
designRoom to conduct a comprehensive
brand assessment to identify where
the brand is today—and to develop a
strong brand that is relevant, engaging
and will carry the firm into the future.
designRoom’s process includes an in-
depth assessment process where they
research, survey and analyze the existing
brand. That includes identifying our
culture, goals, environment, history, and
clients’ attitudes and perceptions.
designRoom held a focus group and
how they work with clients, acting
more as advisors,” Farrell says. “Clients
were feeling that, but the messaging
didn’t match. Connecting the ‘inside’
culture and energy with the ‘outside’
perception is critical. What do clients and
prospects value about the firm? The brand
assessment process allowed us to dig deep,
take a position and put a stake in the
ground.” >
“REBRANDING
HAS MADE
US MORE
PURPOSEFUL IN
OUR VOICE AND
IN THE WAY WE
COMMUNICATE.”
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