ASHA rebrands Equity Red Star Insurance as ERS

ASHA has rebranded Equity Red Star Insurance as ERS delivering a project which is reported to have put the company in profit for the first time in five years.

ERS by ASHA

The rebrand launched internally in April, before being used by brokers in May and according to Insurance Times, the company has moved into profit for the first time in five years. The brand is now beginning to roll out fully. 

ERS approached ASHA and asked the consultancy to help restore the company “to its pre-eminent position as the leading motor syndicate in Lloyds,” according to ASHA partner Marksteen Adamson.

ERS by ASHA

Adamson says the name Equity Red Star Insurance was a conflation of two different names.

“Creating identities with a red star just made everything look North Korean”, says Adamson who dropped this approach in favour of a new name, ERS.

Adamson says it was important that meaning was not lost by creating an acronym – “Acronyms can become impersonal and it can be difficult to put meaning back in.”

ERS by ASHA

“Providing Equity Insurance” has been added as a descriptor and a strapline to qualify the typographic acronym.

It has also provided insurance brokers with a starting point to explain ERS’s point of difference, which Adamson says is ensuring people, based on very specific circumstances.

Adamson says: “By looking at the word Equity and seeing its potential for expressing value our generative idea was born, bringing with it a new insurance category for positioning the organisation.

ERS by ASHA

“Equity Insurance is all about understanding the value individual customers place in their vehicles – whether that focuses around a passion or a livelihood, and tailoring insurance products to recognise what customers care about.”

The idea of equity has also been used conceptually across the brand. Adamson says ASHA has “added equity” to the brand assets by giving them a premium feel.

ERS by ASHA

Rather than use stock imagery has used black and white photography of classic and modern cars to show the values customers place in their vehicles.

Adamson says: “Now that stock libraries are the go to place for every client’s imagery needs, it was a rare and very brave decision for ERS to commission some original photography. The pay off for the client being a library of original black and white core brand photography which completely sets them apart in their market with a quality you simply can’t buy from a stock library.”

ERS by ASHA

The icons which have been created to identify each of the product sectors were inspired by the graphics used on car dashboards.

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