Despite a solid financial foundation, over the past decade Zenrosai (Japan) saw a decline in the total number of policies in force. Despite good brand recognition, many people did not know about Zenrosai’s business or product offerings, and its brand was not viewed as an important factor in selection of an insurance provider. This was particularly noticeable among young people. The company determined that, it was becoming more difficult to retain customers and even its most loyal members with its current business model.
Zenrosai set about reviewing its origin and mission. In light of increasing social problems in today’s world, its mission as a cooperative business and the values of mutuality have become even more important in order to provide support to people and society, and so would remain unchanged as these are considered timeless and universal. However, unless Zenrosai dynamically changed its business models, products and services it would not be able to attract new customers in the future.
The first step in this transformation, was a rebrand in order to declare its commitment to the public. The aim was “to reinvent itself to keep our cooperative values unchanged”, and resulted in the organisation’s new name, Kokumin Kyosai co-op:
- Kokumin meaning “for all citizens”;
- Kyosai meaning “providing mutual aid system and spirit”;
- and co-op, short for “cooperative”.
In full, a cooperative organisation to provide mutual aid for all citizens in Japan. The inclusion of Kyosai was important as it means both “mutual aid system” and “spirit of helping each other”, resulting in a brand that represented its cooperative mission and values and was easier to communicate to the public (especially younger generations).
Following this rebranding, Kokumin Kyosai co-op is working on other strategic transformation initiatives, such as product development, marketing and sales promotions, and human resources. Digital transformation is the key factor to drive all the reforms throughout the entire organisation. Despite this ongoing business transformation, it is still important that Kokumin Kyosai co-op retains its purpose and responsibility as a cooperative. Throughout Japan, the company holds employee workshops on the SDGs, to help identify how, as a business, Kokumin Kyosai co-op can further contribute to society.
