When digital technology and creative thinking intersect, brands can collaborate to create memorable and relevant experiences in consumers’ lives. Through the collaborative efforts between Nedbank Insurance and Accenture Interactive, the award-winning geyser telematics solution (brought to you by Nedbank Insurance) received additional industry acclaim at the 2019 IAB Bookmark Awards, earning gold in both the Customer Experience and IoT categories.
Now in its 11th year, the IAB Bookmark Awards reward excellence in digital and showcase the potential that exists to build brands through creative and high-impact digital executions that deliver measurable results. “The Bookmark Awards serve as the industry benchmark for what has become a digital-first sector,” comments Wayne Hull, Managing Director at Accenture Digital, Africa.
“Digital products and services are now mainstream, which is why recognition for our innovative application of digital technology is so prolific. In this regard, rather than develop a technology solution that looks for problems to solve, Hull explains that Nedbank Insurance and Accenture Interactive took a unique approach to first understand the specific challenges that create friction or pain within a consumer’s life.
“By applying multiple lenses that consider the customer, the business and technology, we can develop truly relevant solutions that address real-world problems. By solving for pertinent customer needs in this way and leveraging innovative technologies, Nedbank Insurance was able to drive real business value.
Geysers account for a large portion of a household’s monthly electricity costs, which continue to escalate at rates that outstrip inflation. Geysers also burst or break, often while the homeowner is out or sleeping. This results in the inconvenience of no hot water or, worse, a flooded and damaged home. The resultant insurance claims are also significant.
Yet, despite the prolific impact that these factors have on consumers’ lives, most homeowners lack the ability to control this appliance. Intelligent, connected technology, therefore, offered the ideal solution to these challenges. In response, a geyser telematics solution, working name Senseable*, brought to you by Nedbank Insurance, was created to transform and improve the lives of Nedbank Insurance Home Owner Cover Policyholders.
This Internet of Things (IoT) solution, working name Senseable, addresses this problem. The solution consists of a telemetry device and multiple health sensors attached to a Nedbank Insurance customer’s geyser and linked to an App (“Senseable”) on the customer’s mobile phone. The telemetry device, and App are connected 24/7 to Nedbank Insurance.
The device senses moisture in the drip tray, immediately shuts off water and electrical supply to the geyser, which limits resultant damage, and automatically logs a claim (First Notification of Loss) on behalf of the customer and begins the process for a plumber to be sent out to assess and replace the geyser.
A push notification is sent to the app on the customer’s mobile phone alerting them of the event, and next steps to follow, the outcome – Nedbank Insurance contacts the client to inform them of the geyser fault and asks them, when is a convenient time to sort out this problem and not the other way around, as traditionally experienced.
The ability to remotely switch geysers on and off and set schedules for optimum temperature and operating hours via the app has allowed homeowners to save an average of R250 per month in energy costs**.
“By leveraging IoT technology, through Sensor Networks (Pty) Ltd, and understanding a homeowner’s behaviours, it has reached into the heart of the home to effectively reduce everyday living costs. The solution also reduced the cost and inconvenience of resultant damage, to household items and valuable personal possessions associated with burst geysers.”
According to Hull, the relevance of the solution has increased customer retentions, while also disrupting the financial services industry.
“This collaboration serves as the quintessential example of how we can intelligently apply technology and digitalisation to reimagine how brands like Nedbank Insurance engage with consumers in our modern digitally-connected world,” he concludes.
