20 years of challenger brand lessons with Auto & General CMO, Jonathan Kerr

Jonathan Kerr, CMO of Auto & General, joins us to explore how one of Australia's most successful challenger brands has built sustained growth by combining strong marketing fundamentals with relentless execution.

From creating a role for himself at Auto & General to helping Budget Direct become one of the country's fastest-growing insurance brands, Jonathan shares why product should always come before growth, how marketers can take greater ownership of the 4 Ps, and what insurance consistently gets right about creativity. We also discuss the power of distinctive brand characters, audio branding, in-house creative teams and a media strategy designed to maximise long-term effectiveness.

Useful links

• This episode is brought to you by System1. Download their creator effectiveness report here: https://system1group.com/the-creator-effectiveness-playbook
• Find about more about HubSpot's AEO product here:
  https://www.hubspot.com/products/aeo

Timestamps

00:00:00 - Start
00:01:41 - How Jonathan found out about Auto and General
00:03:31 - How Jonathan created a new role for himself
00:06:58 - How to balance low price with great product
00:10:36 - Market share growth for Budget Direct
00:12:06 - Focusing on product over growth
00:13:59 - How to control more of the P’s
00:16:51 - Why does insurance produce such creative work?
00:20:52 - The power of compounding work in insurance
00:24:21 - Developing brand characters, and when to kill them off
00:30:08 - The power of audio and jingles
00:34:16 - What’s too silly to be said can be sung
00:36:13 - Why they do so much work in house
00:40:34 - Budget Direct’s unique approach to media buying
00:42:43 - How Jonathan uses AI
00:48:04 - The key challenger brand principles Jonathan has followed
00:50:59 - What makes a successful CMO?
00:52:55 - Do we need to re-educate ourselves on marketing theory?
01:00:27 - The best advice you’ve ever recieved