Insurers must decide whether they want to compete with Britain's best-known brands, or simply become white label product providers, said Patrick Snowball.
The Aviva group chief executive for general insurance made the comments at the Future Focus Spring 2004 Conference.
Snowball warned of the threat traditional insurance providers faced from the entrance of supermarkets and other well-known retailers into the UK personal lines market.
"The key question for insurers is how to get their brand to stand out to customers. We are competing against the best-known brands in the country.
"We must do this or simply become white label providers."
He said insurers in the personal lines market would have to raise their customer service levels in order to compete with companies such as Tesco, which have long competed on customer service.
Snowball also identified the need for the industry to keep abreast of customer demands and to develop technological innovations for use in insurance.
Snowball said it was no longer good enough for the industry to simply keep up with customer demands.
"We need to move ahead of the customer rather than trying to keep up with their demands."
Norwich Union (NU) is now providing more quotes over the internet than through its call centres, said Snowball, and in February 2004 issued twice as many internet as phone quotes.
He pointed to NU's £6m investment in its flood map of the UK, capable of predicting flood risk on a one-metre scale, as an example of innovation in meeting customer demands.
Snowball also described NU's new 'pay as you drive' offering as: "The first insurance product that has a fan club".
