AXA is approaching digital disruption in a variety of ways. Specifically, the following examples demonstrate the degree to which AXA is embracing technological trends and the breadth of its attempts to do so:
AXA Drive Coach – Connected car (France 2015)
AXA Drive Coach is an app designed for the Apple Watch that essentially allows users to analyse, modify and improve their driving behaviour. With Drive Coach, users can learn more about their driving behaviour by analysing acceleration, braking and cornering whilst driving and then gives them useful tips on how to drive safely in real time. After each trip, users receive real time feed back about driving behaviour and users can also compare their results with those of other drivers or share them with friends on Facebook.
“We strongly believe that leveraging innovative digital tools is key today in efficiently engaging people to promote road safety, as these tools significantly raise their awareness of potentially risky driving habits”
– Frederic Tardy, Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer of the AXA Group.
AXA Connected Home (France 2015)
AXA’s IOT efforts include the vision of a smart home hub enabled through partnerships with award-winning connected device manufacturers for real time protection against intrusions, fire, floods, gas leaks, pollution, and other emergencies. Some of the first manufacturers with whom AXA has established research partnerships include:
AXA ultimately plans to control all these devices remotely from its mobile application “My AXA” by the end of 2015. AXA’s future offer will be coupled with AXA’s 24/7 assistance in order to send help if an emergency is detected in a customer’s home.
AXA Health Keeper Platform – Connected Health (Spain 2015)
AXA is embracing the arrival of mobile healthcare solutions by introducing Health Keeper. Health Keeper by AXA is an app + web supported healthcare ecosystem that enables users to keep track of all their activities and set exercise KPI’s and goals whilst receiving tailored content on their indicated health interests. It also provides access to a 24/7 medical helpline and to discounted medical/well-being services.
Health Keeper includes the following features:
- A global monitoring dashboard of the user’s exercise activity is displayed on the Health Keeper platform.
- By interacting with the platform and sharing their activity, users earn Fitpoints which gives users access to health or wellness services, either for free (such as the 24/7 medical help line) or on a ‘pay per use’ basis, with a discount based on the user’s level of activity.
Health Keeper is currently connected with Fitbit, Jawbone & Withings. Moving forward, the Health Keeper team will be able to connect data from over 140 devices on Fitness, Routine, Nutrition, Sleep, Weight, Biometrics, and more.
AXA BlaBlaCar Partnership (France 2015)
In France, BlaBlaCar have worked with AXA to tailor this innovative insurance product, especially for long-distance ride-sharing as an addition to drivers’ existing insurance policies.
The cover is provided free of charge to all members in France every time they travel using BlaBlaCar’s online booking system. Members are also given access to a dedicated assistance hotline, where an operator is on hand to deal with their queries 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
According to Frédéric Tardy, Chief Marketing and Distribution Officer of the AXA Group, “City to city ride sharing is a fast growing practice across Europe with a lot of potential thanks to the money saving, environmental and social benefits it brings to members. We are certain that AXA has an important role to play in developing the practice as it relies on a trusted community which insurance can help strengthen. Our ambition is to become one of the leading sharing economy insurers which is why this partnership is key for us.”
AXA Facebook Partnership (France 2014)
AXA and Facebook have entered into a strategic partnership in order to accelerate their marketing and commercial collaboration in the digital, social and mobile sphere in France and globally. The partnership will leverage the scale of both businesses via groundbreaking innovation and access to research, training and capabilities, particularly on mobile:
- AXA will benefit from dedicated Facebook resources, notably including innovation & analytics teams to help in further developing its brand presence on Facebook, particularly on mobile;
- Facebook will analyse the impact of AXA’s communication campaigns on this social network, and its experts will train AXA’s marketing and digital teams.
According to Véronique Weill, Chief Operating Officer of the AXA Group, “Digital is transforming our job as an insurer and we are convinced that this is a tremendous opportunity to do our job better: protecting people, their goods and their projects on the long term. Therefore, it makes sense for AXA to partner with Facebook not only through a social media strategy but also in digitizing our own teams. This partnership combined with the AXA Lab in San Francisco, which promotes customer experience excellence and innovation, proves our ambition to become the leading digital and multi-access insurer.”
AXA Lab – Fostering Digital Culture (2013)
AXA has established a digital innovation sourcing unit in Silicon Valley, the AXA Lab, to help expedite the business transformation of the AXA group. AXA Lab is instilling ‘a garage mindset in a corporate body’ which works on digital sourcing, detecting latest trends, connecting startups and major high-tech players (like Facebook or Linkedin) with AXA, fostering Group’s digital culture, and initiating proof of concepts. The Lab has four key missions:
- Build stronger connections with tech players from Silicon Valley
- Detect trends and identify potential partnerships with startups
- Foster digital culture and innovation within AXA Group
- Initiate pilots with the most promising startups
AXA has also created three new structures dedicated to investment and innovation in Asia, in order to better connect the Group to the region’s rapidly developing entrepreneurs, talents and new business models. These structures will complement the existing presence of the AXA Group in Europe and North America with the very same objective: to improve customer experience, through partnerships, pilots and investments.
AXA Lab Asia (Shanghai 2015)
The AXA Group has decided to set up an “AXA Lab Asia” in Shanghai, on the model of the structure present in the Silicon Valley in the U.S since the beginning of 2014. It will be led by Frank Desvignes.
“We wish to foster the digital culture and further the spirit of innovation across the Group, by forming partnerships with the most forward-thinking companies. The AXA Lab Asia will also detect emerging trends that can be leveraged for the benefit of our clients, as well as identify new talents”, said Frank Desvignes, Director of the AXA Lab Asia.
AXA Strategic Ventures (HK 2015)
A new office of AXA Strategic Ventures (AXA SV) will be established in Hong Kong, so as to be in the best position to seize the numerous investment opportunities in the region and to accompany European and American startups on the Asian market. The Group had announced in February 2015 the creation of a €200 million venture capital fund, “AXA Strategic Ventures” (AXA SV), dedicated to investing AXA Group money in budding strategic innovations in the insurance, asset management, financial technology and healthcare service industries.
Led by François Robinet, AXA SV is already present in San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, Zurich and Berlin.
“AXA Strategic Ventures now has a genuinely global reach. The establishment of this new office in Hong Kong will not only allow us to take advantage of the possibilities offered by the region, but also to accompany the startups we support in their international expansion in one of the most dynamic markets globally“, said François Robinet, Managing Director of AXA Strategic Ventures.
Data Innovation Lab (Singapore 2015)
AXA will establish a “Data Innovation Lab” in Singapore, on the model of the one already created in France. It will act as a business-focused center of expertise on data analytics to foster Research & Development for various AXA offers and services.
“The data revolution has a profound impact on the way insurers do business. New technologies for data storage and analysis now make it possible to process volumes of data that were previously too large to analyse. The ultimate goal is to be able to offer customers the products and services they want and need, while upholding values of ethics and integrity and protecting their personal privacy“, said Philippe Marie-Jeanne, Director of the Data Innovation Lab.
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