Global insurers have been rocked by large, unexpected payouts and falling revenues amid the coronavirus pandemic. Yet, P&C and life insurers in leading markets will still increase their tech spend and accelerate their digital transformations in the next several years to enhance the online user experience.

eMarketer was pleased to moderate a Tech-Talk Webinar featuring Merkle’s Brett McTammany, vice president of marketing technology, delivery lead insurance, Amazon Web Services’ Kevin Wall, solutions architect, and AAA Life Insurance’s Jennifer Hart, vice president of direct marketing, and Rafael Mejia, director of analytics and data management. They shared AAA Life’s data modernization story and the business case for adopting a cloud-first data marketing platform.

Incumbent insurers have accelerated their use of mature AI deployments in the past year to meet changing customer expectations and better compete with insurtechs. They’ll now need to infuse the tech across their business segments to unlock the full potential—including enhanced personalization, cost cutting, and stronger risk management—of AI-driven digital transformation.

The insurtech’s broadened offering aims to provide users with a one-stop shop for insurance needs. The Zebra initially focused on auto insurance with its real-time quote comparison tool, teaming up with the top 10 auto insurance carriers in the US. It has since evolved its product to include homeowners insurance and aims to launch renters and life insurance options in the future.

Podcast advertising makes up about 10% of media spend for PolicyMe, a Toronto-based digital life insurance advisor. Over the past year, the marketing team ran tests with several podcasts and examined results on demographic and geographic targeting. They narrowed it down to a few that worked best and have focused ad dollars there.

Seventy percent worried about hackers or cybercriminals getting ahold of their data, while 58% were concerned that information on their health-related internet searches would be used against them down the road (e.g., to disqualify them for health or life-insurance coverage). These concerns have some merit.

John Hancock Life Insurance has taken things even further. In September 2018, it announced it would stop underwriting traditional life insurance and, over time, convert all its customers to “interactive” policies that incorporate fitness and health tracking via apps and wearables.

Millennials feel the pressure to keep up with their friends' spending habits, and 57% say they parted with money they hadn’t planned to spend because of what they saw on their social media feeds, according to Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America data published in February 2018. This means we can expect to see plenty of pink posts come February 14. Self-Love Is in the Air.