Two years in and there's still another eight to go - it's difficult to describe Lloyd's 10-year branding strategy as anything but work in progress.
Following an initial year of Brand Matters workshops, where the Lloyd's team talked to underwriters, brokers and other interested parties about how they viewed the market, Lloyd's is now preparing to launch another assault in its rebranding mission.
November will mark the start of the next phase of the strategy. What that will involve is anyone's guess, as Lloyd's remains tight-lipped about its proposals.
So far, the market appears to be divided about what Lloyd's should do about improving its brand and on what it has done so far. On the surface the look of Lloyd's is certainly smarter. As one senior underwriter puts it: "Its branding has gone from being rather scruffy to having a common thread."
While the logo and literature have certainly improved and look far more appealing and professional, the corporation has also delved deeper to develop its world-renowned brand, which does more than rely on what Lord Levene describes as its "glorious past".
Chief executive Richard Ward told the market last month that it had made progress in making the brand work harder for the market. This, he said, included continued enhancements of Lloyds.com, a focused events programme, and the development of its 'thought leadership work' - namely its 360 Risk Project.
But in some quarters, the Lloyd's brand is still regarded as "one of the most underrated brands in the world".
"Its potential is far more than the return people are getting from it," says one industry source. He argues that brokers should play a central role in promoting the Lloyd's brand.
"Lloyd's needs to engage the broking community more in that respect, giving more support and more financial recognition to brokers, to bring in more business from territories where Lloyd's has a licence as opposed to allowing clients in those territories to deal with local markets."
Lloyd's does appear, however, to be listening to the market's cries that in order to improve the look you have to "fix the fundamentals". As Alex Letts, chief executive of RI3K put it, rather quirkily, last year: "Dressing Granny in a leotard is counter-productive in the titillation game."
The market must now wait to hear how Lloyd's intends to move forward in the next couple of months, but for some there is a clear opportunity to build on its reputation and that of the industry.
"Lloyd's is working hard at building its brand in the insurance marketplace," says Simon Hayes, former broker and now chief executive of marketing company Effective Image.
"But the biggest issue is the failure to engage externally. There's a real opportunity here for Lloyd's to act as spokesperson to the national press to demonstrate all the good the industry does. I feel Lloyd's is ideally placed to play that role." IT
