Expanding brokerage announces rebrand, new approach to insurance

Ontario brokerage Mitchell & Whale Insurance Brokers has announced it is rebranding its company under the new name Mitch. 

Announced on Valentine’s Day, the rebrand will officially launch in late March and will be accompanied by a new value proposition of “lovable insurance” and a redesigned website, Mitchell & Whale said in a press release Feb. 14. Until the rebranding, the brokerage will continue to operate as Mitchell & Whale. 

The Whitby, Ont.-based personal and commercial lines brokerage said the concept of lovable insurance will guide the family-run business’s culture and operations, “and will include dramatically reduced call wait times, industry-leading customer experiences and powerful technology that’s been developed in-house.”

Mitchell & Whale told Canadian Underwriter that in the coming weeks, it will implement a new omnichannel cloud contact centre. The brokerage will also implement robotic process automation (RPA) to free up time for brokers and customer service representatives so they can spend more time helping customers, and use RPA to expand its quoters beyond auto and M1 to other product lines like home and motorcycle. Later in the year, it’ll expand online quoters to provide more self-serve and quote options.

The brokerage’s new website will offer customers multiple options for contact based on their preferences, Mitchell & Whale explained. In the coming months, it will begin displaying call wait times on the website in real-time to let customers better decide when they’d like to reach out.

In addition, Mitchell & Whale has established an internal training centre to help teammates deliver exceptional service standards. The brokerage has also doubled the sizes of its sales and services teams over the past year, and continues to add new talent.

“We’re purposefully setting out to challenge the industry status quo,” Igor Bubic, Mitchell & Whale’s chief marketing officer, said in the release. “What you’ll see next month is the first phase of a radically different approach to our website’s design and user experience that’s heavily influenced by the best retail consumer sites out there.” 

The brokerage said it is “looking to shift the public’s perception of insurance and break stereotypes the industry has inadvertently and collectively reinforced through engagements that are often embedded with fear, confusion and inherent negativity.” 

Mitchell & Whale CEO Adam Mitchell said he understands the “lovable insurance” approach will take time to achieve in a meaningful way, but points to the brokerage’s high net promoter scores and Google star ratings. “We’re going to continually improve on the things we already do well by analyzing our rich pool of data and implementing new and innovative solutions.”  

The upcoming rebrand as Mitch is part of the brokerage’s strategic plan to become a Top 20 national brokerage with $1 billion in gross written premiums by 2030.  

In operation since 1948, the brokerage has made several changes over the last few months. These include leadership appointments and an organizational restructure, with new departments focused on operational excellence and customer experience, marketing and innovation. 

Feature image by iStock.com/Tashatuvango