Happy Thaipusam to all my dear Hindu friends and all Malaysians.
Many of you probably will still remember that I began my 2007 with an extensive program for Maybank/Takaful Nasional/MNI. It was called Personal Mastery for Managers. At that time, the managers of Maybank Fortis/Takaful Nasional and MNI were undergoing a Change Management program to prepare them for the eventual merger of the 3 entities. Since then, you would probably also have come to know Etiqa with its smiling face logo and striking colour. Etiqa is the new entity born out of that merger.
Once again, I am honoured to be involved in the continuing evolution of Maybank Fortis/Takaful Nasional/MNI as the brand new Etiqa. This time around, I will be sharing my ideas and thoughts with both its managers and executives on the areas of Brand Leadership and Customer Focus.
Etiqa, I am happy to tell you, is much more than a mere name change. It is definitely much more than a change of corporate logo. Etiqa is poised to become a new powerhouse in Malaysia's insurance and Takaful scene as for the first time, consumers in Malaysia will see the human side of insurance and takaful. This is the promise of Etiqa : Humanizing Insurance.
This new brand has 4 attributes : Performance with Conscience, Crystal Clear, Hand in Hand and Rock Solid. The people of Etiqa have made the commitment to behave in the following ways : Creative, Genuine, Generous, Inclusive and Dynamic.
As you can see, these are lofty promises but they are not whimsical ones. Much energy and soul searching has gone through it. Countless discussion sessions, focus groups and market analysis have been carried out to come to these promises. These promises, I am confident to say, will be kept as the people of Etiqa believe in them.
Of course, there will be challenges ahead as Etiqa is a story in the making and I am proud that i have had a small role to play in its continuous evolution.
At the end of the day, as I have always said, a brand is an experience. Experience is the only thing a customer takes away with her. That will be my key message for the 13 groups of managers and exceutives that I will be meeting over the next 3 months.
