History of the Strategic Approach of the Marketing & Market Development Plan
The Marketing & Market Development Plan (MMDP) was originally developed in response to a
concern of the SOA Board of Directors that actuaries’ opportunities for leadership roles in risk
management were being usurped by a handful of other professions, including accountants and
risk professionals from outside the actuarial profession.
Research found that employers often were not considering actuaries for senior risk
management roles because of a misperception about actuaries’ skill sets. Actuaries were
viewed as technical experts with, generally speaking, a lack of communication and business
skills that are valued by the C-suite for senior positions.
To combat that misperception, the external communications component of the MMDP, in its
early years (2006-2009), was focused primarily on reaching the employer audience. Outreach
was designed to help those in business leadership better understand the thought leadership of
actuaries so that they would, over time, be more willing consider actuaries for senior risk
management positions.
(While this advocacy of “new opportunities” was certainly key, it’s also important to point out
that the MMDP has always also been focused on promoting actuaries’ skills in the moretraditional lines of work, such as insurance, pensions and employee benefits.)
It is fair to say that much of the results of the media outreach during the 2006-2009 period was
not solely directed at the employer audience or that it appeared only in business media. Much
of the thought leadership generated by the profession is of interest to the general public (such
as research around retirement risks). The SOA did not shy away from publicizing that type of
research broadly and at times did so very successfully. It is also fair to say that it has been
historically difficult to get much broad media traction around actuaries’ skills in enterprise risk
management for two primary reasons: there are not a lot of actuaries involved in ERM,
relatively speaking, and companies are not willing to talk about how actuaries (or anyone, for
that matter) have helped them with risk mitigation. As a result, the thought leadership was
often theoretical and, as a result, not of interest to the media, which want tangible results to
report.
In 2010, the focus of the media relations effort shifted when SOA broadened its outreach to the
general public. This approach allowed the media outreach to purposefully include those areas
of actuarial thought leadership that had a consumer bent – such as retirement and some
aspects of healthcare. Attention to the employer audience did not decrease, and certainly the
work around promoting actuaries’ expertise in enterprise risk management, for instance,
continued to be directed at employers.
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Through the work of the Viewpoints & Visibility Teams, which were formed to strategically
manage the media outreach beginning in 2010, messaging was focused on three primary areas
of actuarial thought leadership:
ERM
o The Current Business Environment
o Emerging and previously unforeseen risks are evolving and changing every day,
fundamentally altering the environment and markets in which businesses
operate.
o Savvy organizations have learned how to mitigate risk, while maximizing the
opportunities it presents.
o The Relevance of Actuaries
o In today’s risk-driven business environment, actuaries offer an unparalleled
combination of financial training and expertise in identifying the entire spectrum
of risks businesses face.
o The CERA designation is the standard for enterprise risk management, preparing
risk leaders to drive innovative solutions to the world’s most challenging
business problems.
o The Importance of the ERM Discipline to Driving Growth
o As risks evolve, so too must the way they are measured and accounted for in key
business decisions. ERM led by actuaries ensures that organizations will have a
deeper understanding of the broadest spectrum of risks, with an opportunity to
leverage those risks to protect and defend their assets and achieve long-term
business goals.
Retirement
For Consumers:
o The Current Retirement Environment
o The confluence of anticipated and unforeseen factors is drastically reshaping the
retirement landscape. Longer life expectancies coupled with declining home
values, savings accounts, and job opportunities due to the recession, are
impacting how individuals are planning for, and living in, retirement.
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o In order to tailor their approach to this new retirement reality, individuals must
have a comprehensive understanding of the potential issues they will face in
retirement, and a flexible plan for addressing them.
o The Relevance of Actuaries
o Actuaries’ strong financial expertise, understanding of the spectrum of risks
facing pre-retirees and retirees, and unbiased viewpoint allow them to provide
valuable advice on successfully transitioning accumulated assets into retirement
income.
o The Role Actuaries Play in helping People Achieve a Successful Retirement
o In a world where individuals are responsible for protecting and funding their
retirement, actuaries serve as a guide, mapping the most critical, and often
overlooked risks to retirement and strategies for aligning assets with life
expectancy.
Retirement
For Businesses:
o The Current Retirement Environment
o With millions of boomers preparing to exit the workforce over the coming
decade, businesses are facing an unprecedented shift in workforce dynamics,
and with it significant risks to business continuity and growth.
o The Relevance of Actuaries
o With the combination of their enterprise risk background, expertise in pension
issues, and knowledge of personal retirement risks, actuaries are uniquely
qualified to counsel corporations on capitalizing on the new retirement
landscape.
o The Role Actuaries Play in helping Companies Capitalize on this Situation
o To stay one step ahead, the C-Suite needs the foresight and expertise that
actuaries offer to translate emerging workplace dynamics into strategic planning,
and seize opportunities for future growth.
Healthcare
o The Current Healthcare Environment
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o Healthcare has entered an era of uncertainty, as skyrocketing costs, regulatory
issues and societal trends have prompted a renewed focus on the challenging
effort to reduce costs while improving quality.
o The Relevance of Actuaries
o Actuaries have the unique analytical skill set and insight to provide the crucial
data and solutions that healthcare stakeholders need to make strategic
decisions, and best meet patient needs.
[OR]
o With their deep analytical training and unparalleled approach to modeling a
broad spectrum of risks, actuaries are uniquely positioned to develop solutions
for some of the most challenging and complex healthcare issues.
o How Actuaries Contribute to Solutions in Healthcare
o At a time when individuals are more accountable for their own health and
healthcare decisions than ever before, actuaries empower consumers to make
smart choices by providing transparency around medical costs and quantifying
financial consequences of personal health choices.
o By providing critical information around costs for care and financially
incentivizing consumers to better manage their personal health, actuaries
provide valuable information to the medical providers and insurers navigating
the increasingly complex healthcare environment.
Beginning in 2011, the MMDP as it was known no longer exists. Rather, the primary
components of the MMDP have been split into separate, yet coordinated, initiatives that are
focused on raising visibility of actuaries and the SOA through public relations, as well as paid
media campaigns on the SOA’s general insurance track and CERA credential.
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