Fewer firms, fewer options, same pitch. How to find differentiation

Consolidation has made insurance bigger but not better.

In today’s insurance landscape, the top 10 global brokers now control an eye-watering percentage of global premium. That number keeps climbing, but the result is fewer firms, fewer options for clients, and strikingly, near-identical messaging from everyone.

Everyone’s promising "global reach", "deep expertise", and "client-first service", and it’s all blending into one big blue blur – I’m not sure who coined the term “standing out in a sea of sameness” but this is the time to do it!

Meanwhile, Insurtech’s are doing something radical, standing out.

Insurtech’s are finding (and filling) the gaps. They’re solving real client problems, offering digital-first, data-rich, frictionless solutions. While legacy players have scale, Insurtech’s have soul – and that’s why they’re winning.

And that’s exactly why they should be the next wave of acquisition targets.

Many moons ago, I was the sole marketer responsible for bringing an Insurtech into the world. Eight weeks from funding approval to launch - logo, brand, website, customer portal, campaign, the lot. I worked all hours of the day and night but it was energising, why, because it had purpose. It solved a real customer need, and I got to bring it to life.

Deloitte’s 2025 M&A outlook noted that, with capital freeing up again, insurers and brokers are well-positioned to use M&A for profitable growth. But instead of buying yet another mid-sized broker to add scale, why not invest in tech that truly differentiates your offering?

So why aren’t the biggest brokers already doing this?

They have the capital and they have the infrastructure. Many of the top 20 brokers will have tried to build some tech, but much of it seems to end up as costly innovation held together by technical debt and internal politics, rather than client value.

I’ve been the marketer asked to promote some of these internally developed tools. And while the brains behind them knew the product inside out - its intent, functionality, and potential - I often found myself flagging things that were overlooked: poor UX, workflows that didn’t reflect how users actually behave, no way to send standardised market reports automatically, no CRM integration to drive follow-up comms, or GDPR-compliant renewal invites(!).

These aren’t just minor oversights. They’re the things that shape trust, adoption, and long-term value. But when tech is built in-house without proper user research or customer journey insight, those pain points often go unaddressed.

It seems a smarter model would be to use Insurtech acquisitions to plug internal capability gaps and create monetizable client services. Imagine if the broker’s tech stack was an appreciating asset instead of just a cost centre.

The “I want to keep my brand” conundrum

Lets say you do acquire a great company. But someone stamps their feet and says their brand is amazing and no one will ever buy this product without their logo on it (if only brand was just a logo eh?).

Spoiler, 90% of the time it makes no difference – we’re not talking about Burger King acquiring McDonalds here, your business is relatively small.

One of the strangest parts of acquisition I’ve seen is just how little strategic brand work actually happens. No one seems to audit the brand, assesses its equity, or even ask basic grown-up marketing questions:

• Is this brand known?

• Is it trusted?

• Does it align with our market position?

• Will it enhance or dilute our portfolio?

Shout out to my old Mastering Metrics textbook for the maths on brand equity

Proper brand evaluation should be standard procedure for any trained marketing team, yet we’re almost never part of the decision making. We’re simply instructed to come up with some dodgy dual brand creative to smooth over ego’s at the expense of proposition clarity.

What this could mean for marketers: finally, something to sell.

Marketers in insurance are often asked to work magic with recycled messages. We try to spin the same pitch with a new wrapper, knowing deep down it doesn’t stand out.

But if we were part of the real strategy conversations, particularly around M&A, we could do more than promote. We could:

• Flag gaps in client experience and product delivery

• Identify underleveraged differentiators

• Advise on where tech can elevate propositions

• Help build go-to-market strategies for acquisitions

We know what customers actually want. We know what competitors are saying. And we should know what’s missing. Give marketing a seat at the M&A table and we’ll give you a proposition worth remembering.

If consolidation is inevitable, so is confusion.

Every deal that makes you bigger also makes it harder to explain why you’re better. When your competitors look like you, sound like you, and price like you, what will make you stand out?

Ask your Marketing team. Or maybe ask me cara@ooshkaconsulting.com .

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This is the third blog in a six part series in my exploration on why 'insurance needs marketing more than ever'.