Old Mutual: Breaking into the Mass Market

Description

Old Mutual: Breaking into the Mass Market: Abstract

It was November 2014 and just three months since Old Mutual, a well-established, global financial services group, had launched the 2-in-One Savings product to target the South African retail mass market. Anele Mbuya, senior marketing actuary for Old Mutual’s Retail Mass Market, wondered whether the product’s marketing strategy needed to be revitalised for it to achieve the sales forecasts for the next operating period. However, a tight marketing budget, customer perceptions of Old Mutual as a life insurer rather than a savings company and a poor savings culture in South Africa were some of the challenges the organisation faced. Old Mutual had a good track record in developing and implementing marketing strategies aimed at multiple market segments. However, it had still not optimally serviced the retail mass market. Mbuya had to consider how to take advantage of the opportunities this segment presented, and how to address its challenges for the product to achieve its potential.

Teaching objectives

The overarching purpose of the case is to use Old Mutual’s 2-in-One Savings product to understand positioning and marketing across the lifecycle of a new product.