Brainsharks Insurance Practice

After the first of the year, we announced a relationship with iPipeline. They are insurance technology company based in Philadelphia. They aggregate information such as forms, rates and product information from insurance carriers to brokers and producers. Along with G2X and Advanced Meetings, these partnerships are designed to integrate Brainshark with other technology services used by carriers. Click here to view the press release or here to see the Insurance Practice web page on Brainshark's updated web site.

INSURANCE STUDY GROUP--Next Meeting Thursday Feb. 9 at 2:00 pm (eastern)

On December 1, I hosted our first Insurance Study Group. Study Groups bring together peers from insurance companies to discuss topics of mutual interest. Insurance companies are unique in that they often worki together for their common benefit. Of the 25 registrants 21 attended. To listen to this 55-minute edited replay Click Here

Jonathan Bentley of Media Door was the lead presenter. He talked about how Rich-Media is actually a very new medium and how there is almost a new language needed to use it effectively. Questions were raised concerning working with subject matter experts, video, length of presentation and more.

A important topic was scripting for on-demand presentations. A website, Newscript.com looks at how writing a script for Brainshark is more like writing for Radio than Newspapers

Also, in November, Sales and Marketing Magazine asked readers if they "Are a Good Presenter? The article included a 10-question quiz and quote from Brainshark user, Mike Ball of Ash Brokerage in which he said that "in 15 minutes I can condense everyhting I would say in a 45-minute live webconference." Download_artcicle.pdf

In November, 2005 Brainshark was awarded a patent by the US Dept of Commerce. Patent # 6,968,506 is for a "Method of and system for composing, delivering, viewing and managing audio-visual presentations over a communications network".

Since 1933, the Insurance and Financial Communicators Association promotes the exchange of ideas among its 650+ members who are primarily marketing people at Insurance and Financial Services companies. One of the exciting things they do is an annual awards competition. This year, Rich-Media was included for the first time. To see one of the winners, click here and choose What Every Employee Should Know About Retirement Savings. I think so highly of this volunteer run group that I am now on the Board of Directors in the role of Industry Liaison. My first task on the board was to write Using Rich-Media to Drive Sales and Relationships for IFCA's magazine, Communique.

WHITEPAPERS

Wainhouse Research 25-page White Paper, The Business Case for On-Demand Rich Media. It is a deep look at why and how companies including Prentice-Hall and Xerox use both live and on-demand web presentations.Download wainhouse_odrm_whitepaper.pdf.

Bersin Associates report on Rapid E-learning: What Works. Tools and Best Practices for Building E-learning Programs in Weeks. Download RapideLearning2005_excerpt.pdf

Brandon-Hall report of PowerPoint to E-learning Development Tools is complemented by a short Survey of PowerPoint Results

Please read my thoughts on the use of Brainshark in Insurance distribution channels, Personalization and Intelligent Collateral Download personalization_white_paper_.doc

Celent, a Boston based analyst looked at the use of web collaboration technology by agents in the field. This is pretty in-depth and has lots of great information Download celent_.pdf

In January, the online version of National Underwriter Magazine posted an article, Brainshark Offers Web Marketing Tool for Less. Lots of great quotes from yours truly.

A really interesting paper The Wiki and the Blog: Toward a Complex Adaptaive Intelligence Community by Dr. Calvin Andrus of the C.I.A. He looks at the ways that the Intelligence agencies can use these new technologies. Lots of food for thought.

THE DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

This 3-minute presentation looks at Insurance carriers and how they use Brainshark. To complement this presentation take a look at some additional research on retention when audio and graphics are combines, plus the value of on-demand presentations as compared to live webconferences.
Download research_data.doc

In October, Brainshark released 2 press announcements about Ash Brokerage, a Brokerage that uses Brainshark and a partnership with G2X, a relationship management system for Insurance Carriers. Download ash_brokerage_092005.pdf and Download G2X_Brainshark_102705.pdf

ON THE ROAD W/BRAINSHARK

Starting at Brainshark (see map), this year I am already scheduled for Dallas and Calgary. I hope to visit many more places to show Brainshark to Instructional Designers, Sales Technologists, Compliance Managers and VP's of Marketing. Some of favorite places are the Wyndham Hotel in Galveston, 3rd Ward in Milwaukee, Ritttenour Park in Philly and Old Town Omaha.

Road Warriors like to talk about their Ipods, Bose Headphones, Treos.....but I would rather look at some low-tech things that have made my life easier on the road. Mens wallets are always too thick, try this new $15 billfold. Or, tired of schlepping your laptop...I am now on my second Kensington Laptop Carrying Bag. My favorite is 1.25x reading glasses that never get lost. Finally, when you get there you have to look good and a Jerry Garcia tie does the job.

WHAT INSURANCE CARRIERS SAY ABOUT US

“We develop deep partnerships with a select number of MGA’s through our sophisticated technology… Brainshark provides (our) automated delivery of sales concepts.” Meg Skinner, SVP, Lincoln Financial Group

“Marketing campaigns should promote hot products...segment the producer population and deliver messages that resonate…Consider a mix of marketing tools for…promotions and training with online platforms such as Brainshark..” George Zippel, President, Independent Brokerage Group, Genworth

At a recent NAILBA conference, Prudential had a Brainshark authoring station at their booth. Visitors were able to very quickly take a presentation, personalize it by recording their voice and send it to their agents.

Also, there are two short presentations in which Prudential Skandia and Phoenix Investments discuss their use of Brainshark.

Download phoenix_life_adds_web_spice_to_marketing_mix.doc

AN AMAZING CASE STUDY

In August, an Insurance Carrier used Brainshark on a pilot basis to roll out a new product to the field. More than 1,000 people viewed the presentation (30% of those who received the e-mail) with half of the views in the first 3 days. Feedback from Producers included: 97% stated that Brainshark enhances product roll-out 58% stated that Brainshark is more effective (with an additional 40% stating it is as effective) when compared to web conferences, web videos, or email

“Great tool to get the news out. Better than an email and not as involved as a web conference. I like it!”

“A five to seven minute Brainshark presentation hitting the highlights of the new product is much more efficient use of my time than reading through a packet of materials. It is also much more cost effective and better for the environment. I strongly encourage that we continue with this new medium for product rollout.--Thanks!”

“This is very helpful to me. Web conferences often don't match my schedule. Mailings often get buried in my deluge of mail. To be able to pull this up instantly--at a time which works for my schedule is wonderful.”

“1. 24/7 availability is much more appealing than having to fit into a particular time frame-- 2. People could log in to signify attendance-- 3. This would be great for SVPs or internal Sales Support staff to use to send to clients to tweak their interest or to take them through a pitch together.--Bottom Line: I love it.—“

“Excellent- I could fast forward through parts where I could read the screen to understand the point without having to listed to the full speaking track with it. When I wanted to- I could go back also and relisten to something I missed. Liked it very much”

RESEARCH ON PERSONALIZATION

You have seen the ads on TV ( Download one_to_one.swf ) when the woman sees a brochure of her car, she is so much more engaged than with a generic mailing. Our data tells us that when someone in the distribution channel, personalizes a core presentation the person who views it pays more attention, looks at it 20% longer and is more likely to take a follow-up call.

Also, a case study by Xerox on their use of Webinars was just released by ViewCentral. Interesting comments regarding on-demand presentations on page 3. The Global Conferencing and Media Services Groups opinion on the value of live vs. on-demand presentations corroborates studies from Aberdeen group. Download aberdeen_webinars.doc

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

This June, I reached a significant milestone... born in Boston .... guess the year? It was great celebrating with my family and friends at this surprise party!

FIVE WAYS TO REDUCE POWERPOINT OVERLOAD

Cliff Atkinson offers many really useful ideas for people making presentations. In February 2005, his book BEYOND BULLET POINTS will be published. The genesis of the book is "Five Ways to Reduce PowerPoint Overload". This article and interviews with many thoughtful people can be found at his site.