Manulife Launches Delvinia-Designed Mobile Travel Site and App

Delvinia is the organization engaged to work with Manulife Financial on the design, implementation and unveiling of Manulife’s new CoverMe™ Travel mobile site and CoverMe™ Packing App. Launched December 1, these mobile touch points reflect the brand’s customer focus and the fact that more and more customers are using their smartphones as part of the purchase process.

In fact, according to AskingCanadians™, Delvinia’s proprietary online research panel, 32 per cent of Canadians own a smartphone and 40 per cent of owners report having used their smartphone while shopping.

Experience revealed that a large percentage of purchases made through the
1-800-COVER ME^® phone number are for last-minute emergency travel insurance. The CoverMe Travel mobile site tailors to this behaviour, enabling consumers to purchase travel insurance at the last minute and while they are on-the-go.

“We identified an opportunity for Manulife to satisfy the needs of busy travelers. When we were looking at the analytics, we noticed that a lot of people were coming to CoverMe.com from mobile devices and that number is growing exponentially,” said Steve Mast, President of Delvinia. “We wanted to build on that momentum and the fact that more people are using mobile to buy insurance.”

Manulife’s new mobile site provides an additional valuable service for potential and existing customers and reinforces the message that CoverMe™ has its customers covered – especially on mobile where they’re spending more time. Delvinia designed the site, which is accessible by BlackBerry, iPhone and Android users, for ease of use. Users are guided through the purchase process in a limited number of steps, enabling them to buy the newly created CoverMe Travel Single Trip Emergency Medical plan, in minutes—and while they’re on-the-go.

When it came to designing the travel app, Mast said Delvinia noticed a trend in the data regarding apps that work and those that don’t. “Apps that have longevity and staying power are utility-based apps, apps that help people in their everyday life,” he said.

The CoverMe™ Packing App, available for iPhones, is designed to help travelers with the process of planning and packing for their trips. Users can download the free app to create customized travel packing lists from categories like Important Documents, Clothing, Toiletries, and most importantly Travel Insurance.

Key features of the CoverMe™ Packing App include:

• Creating new packing lists
• Editing customized packing lists
• Accessing the existing catalogue of multiple categorized travel items
• Adding your own items
• Receiving travel packing tips

“Recognizing customers are increasingly looking to use their smartphones to complete online transactions, the new CoverMe Travel mobile site extends our ability to offer affordable coverage whenever and wherever our customers need it,” said Gavin Robinson, Senior Vice President & General Manager, Affinity Markets. “With the CoverMe Packing App, we’re able to improve the travel experience in a new way. By helping customers prepare for their trips, in addition to offering convenient options for the purchase of travel insurance, we hope to ease some of the stress often associated with traveling.”

Delvinia has worked closely with Manulife since 2005, redesigning the company’s award-winning website and launching coverme.com with a focus on increasing the percentage of Manulife’s direct-to-consumer business being conducted online. As a result, Manulife has seen significant growth in its online channel with applications increasing by almost 40 per cent.

To visit Manulife Financial’s new CoverMe™ Travel mobile site, go to m.coverme.com. The CoverMe Packing App is currently available and can be downloaded for free from the iTunes Store.

 

AskingCanadians™ Launches Specialty Panel with SavvyMom

AskingCanadians™, a Delvinia company, today announced a partnership with SavvyMom Media to create a branded online research community composed of Canadian moms with young children.

SavvyMom Media, which operates SavvyMom.ca, a website and e-mail newsletter focused on delivering parenting solutions to busy moms, and AskingCanadians™, an online data collection firm established in 2005 with a panel community of 160,000 Canadians, are partnering to create the SavvyMom Research Community in AskingCanadians™­­.

The partnership enhances the AskingCanadians™ specialty panel of moms with kids and provides SavvyMom with a best-of-breed research community where members will have the opportunity to share their opinions and influence Canada’s top brands—all while earning rewards like Hbc points, Aeroplan Miles and entries into draws to win great prizes.

“We’re excited to announce this new partnership with SavvyMom, which has created a highly engaged group of Canadian moms that actively share their opinions,” said Delvinia CEO Adam Froman. “The creation of the SavvyMom Research Community in AskingCanadians™ will not only enhance our community with the addition of a highly desirable audience for researchers, but it will create an environment where moms with kids can provide feedback on consumer goods and services while knowing that their privacy and personal information is protected.”

The partnership will also provide SavvyMom with the means to gather feedback from members and gain a deeper understanding of its audience. This initiative is an example of how Canadian brands can build communities within AskingCanadians™.

“We considered building our own community panel but the cost was prohibitive. Creating the SavvyMom Research Community in AskingCanadians™ was a cost-effective solution that provides us with enhanced value,” said Sarah Morgenstern, Publisher and Co-founder of SavvyMom Media. “Not only does AskingCanadians™ have the technical platform; it also has the privacy policies and the community management capabilities that will allow us to build our community efficiently and keep our members engaged in giving their opinions. AskingCanadians™ understanding of the research market combined with our access to the Canadian mom community promises to be a powerful combination.”

Delvinia Releases DIG Report on eDemocracy and Citizen Engagement

Delvinia has announced the release of its latest DIG report, “eDemocracy and Citizen Engagement: The Delvinia Report on Internet Voting in the Town of Markham.”

This groundbreaking study—based on Delvinia’s involvement in three consecutive elections—provides a comprehensive review of Canadian attitudes toward Internet voting in Canada, demonstrates how Canadians are embracing digital technologies to interact with government and illustrates why the Town of Markham is the ideal pilot site for Internet voting in future federal and provincial elections.

“Given the proliferation of digital technologies, governments are realizing that eDemocracy is about more than simply offering citizens a means to transact or obtain public service information. The future of eDemocracy is about listening to citizens and becoming part of the conversation,” said Delvinia CEO Adam Froman. “Similar to the business world, the idea of creating meaningful and relevant customer experiences has reached government. Governments need to accelerate their efforts to understand the attitudes and behaviours of their electorate towards digital experiences such as Internet voting.”

In 2010, with the support of Ryerson University, Delvinia secured an Engage Grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) to commission Nicole Goodman, a PhD candidate specializing in Canadian political institutions and alternative voting methods, to provide a scholarly perspective on the data collected following the 2010 election as well as a comparison to the data Delvinia collected in the 2003 and 2006 elections.

The resulting report provides an independent analysis of the impact of digital technologies on citizen engagement in an election. A special contribution by Environics Analytics using their PRIZM_C2 segmentation also allowed for some additional explanatory insight into the attitudes and demographic characteristics of online voters.

“Delvinia is the only organization in Canada that has collected data from three consecutive municipal elections where Internet voting was offered as an option,” Froman said, adding, “This report clearly demonstrates the positive impact that digital technologies, including Internet voting, can have on citizen engagement.”

Key findings from the DIG report include:

• An overwhelming satisfaction with the Internet voting process in Markham; 99 per cent of online voters reported being satisfied.
• 99 per cent of online voters indicated that they would be likely to vote online in a provincial election if it were available. The same percentage would also be likely to vote online in a federal election if it were available.
• 34 per cent of young people aged 18 to 24 say they either probably wouldn’t or definitely wouldn’t have voted had Internet voting not been an option.
• 78 per cent of candidates report that the option of Internet voting had a significant impact on the campaign, namely its effect on campaign strategies, mobilization tactics, and with respect to voter turnout.

Overall, the data suggests that there is broad public support for the introduction of Internet voting in Canadian elections at all levels of government. And, in the case of Markham, Internet voting has been proven to produce some positive effects on the electoral process, namely enhancing electoral convenience and accessibility and thereby encouraging electoral participation.

“Markham has always sought new, innovative and effective ways to connect with and engage our residents. We’re very proud of the work that has been done since 2003 to increase voter outreach and awareness about the importance of voting in a municipal election,” said Markham Mayor Frank Scarpitti. “Our voter outreach and voter turnout in Markham has steadily increased since 2003, with a voter participation rate of 36 per cent in the last municipal election. We’re very pleased that the report released by Delvinia validates our work and confirms that Markham voters are overwhelmingly satisfied with the availability of Internet voting.”

Wendy Cukier, Vice-President, Research and Innovation at Ryerson University, said the research study is an example of fostering innovation in Canada, which is a top priority for economic growth and maintaining our quality of life.

“With Delvinia’s expertise, the Town of Markham has been a leader in using technology to drive innovation and the Internet voting project is just one example,” she said. “Ryerson is committed to working with government, industry and the community to help foster innovation and solve real world problems. Our students and faculty are working on a full spectrum of leading edge projects which are helping to create new products, services and processes. We were delighted to collaborate with Delvinia through the support of the NSERC.”

About the DIG Report

The Delvinia DIG report on eDemocracy and Citizen Engagement is a summary of key findings from Delvinia’s research report on Internet voting in three consecutive elections in the Town of Markham. The DIG report is available online at www.delvinia.com/dig. The full research report is available for purchase through Delvinia. Please refer to our order form to obtain a copy of the report.

Older Posts »