Insurance: General (Home, Car, Business) marketing benchmarks

General insurance composite sits in the middle of the pack. It's above the national average of 63.7 but meaningfully below Retail Banking and Superannuation. For an industry that collectively spends hundreds of millions on Australian advertising, the return on marketing investment is unremarkable.

The problem is structural. Insurance is a low-engagement product. Nobody wakes up excited about their home insurance renewal. The purchase trigger is either price (comparison shopping), fear (after a weather event) or obligation (lender requirement). None of these are brand-driven decisions in the traditional sense.

Acquisition Performance reflects this reality. Insurers compete primarily through comparison channels and paid search. The customer acquisition cost is high and the switching rate is structural. IAG (72) and Suncorp (70) have invested in direct channels that reduce dependency on comparison sites. QBE (64), which operates more in the commercial space, shows a different profile entirely.

Retention and Loyalty is the standout weakness. Auto-renewal creates the illusion of loyalty. But true retention, where the customer actively chooses to stay, requires engagement that most insurers don't invest in. Wellness programs, risk reduction tools and proactive claims communication are retention mechanics. Most insurers only talk to customers at renewal and claims.

Data and Tracking is the execution gap. Insurers have extensive actuarial data but marketing attribution remains basic. When the comparison engine sends a click and the call centre closes the sale, who gets credit? This measurement gap leads to chronic underinvestment in the channels that actually drive profitable growth.

Acquisition Performance gets 30% because insurance is a comparison market. Customers shop on price every renewal cycle. The insurer who shows up in the comparison, has the clearest value proposition and makes it easy to switch wins. Digital Maturity at 20% reflects the shift to online quotes and self-service. Conversion Efficiency (20%) and Retention (20%) split the remainder.

Brand and Positioning is just 5%. That might seem low for an industry with iconic campaigns like the AAMI "lucky you're with AAMI" franchise. But the data shows brand awareness doesn't drive purchase in insurance the way it does in other categories. Price comparison does. The brand gets you on the shortlist. The quote wins the sale.

Retention is the biggest gap. Compare this to Retail Banking. Both are financial products with annual cycles. But banking has invested in digital retention mechanics. Insurance still relies on auto-renewal and hope. If your retention strategy is "don't remind them to shop around," that's not a strategy.

IAG at 72 and Suncorp at 70 show what's possible. QBE at 64 shows what happens when the marketing function doesn't get the same investment as underwriting. The 8-point gap between IAG and QBE is the difference between treating marketing as a growth function and treating it as a cost.

Conversion Efficiency is fine but unremarkable. The comparison engines have commoditised the top of funnel. The insurers winning are the ones who convert better once the prospect lands on their site. That means clearer pricing, faster quotes and fewer form fields.