This presentation explores how mutual and cooperative insurers can communicate customer ownership in a way that is meaningful and easy to understand.

Royal London is the UK’s largest customer-owned pensions and investment company, serving more than 8.5 million customers, with GBP 199 billion in assets under management and more than 5,000 colleagues. In 2026, it shared GBP 199 million of profits with 2.4 million eligible customers.

The refresh began in 2025 from a position of strength, but Royal London wanted to increase awareness of customer ownership and make its benefits more tangible. Research showed that customers wanted to understand the personal benefit of choosing a customer-owned organisation, without negative comparisons to shareholder-owned competitors.

Royal London Works for You was developed as a direct, active statement: Royal London works on behalf of its customers, and its customer-owned model works for them. The external campaign translated this into You’re the Boss, presenting customers as the “bosses” of Royal London.

Internal engagement was central to the refresh. Royal London launched the positioning internally before the external campaign, using leadership messaging, colleague communications, office activations and updated brand assets to help employees understand their role in shaping the customer experience.

The refresh also included visual and verbal updates, including a refined logo lock-up, updated imagery principles and a shift from “mutual” to “customer owned”, which research found to be clearer. Royal London’s pelican mascot, Gilbert, remains a distinctive brand asset, but with customers more clearly at the centre.

Royal London is measuring success through customer ownership awareness, emotional connection, consideration and commercial impact, supported by brand tracking, customer relationship research and marketing mix modelling.

A PDF version of Royal London’s presentation is attached below.