Have you ever seen a marketing message for either a financial or an insurance company that has more disclosure and disclaimer information than actual content?

Did you read all of that legal copy? (It’s pretty much a given you didn’t.)

Although we understand there are highly regulated rules for communication that both financial and insurance companies have to comply with, we have to boldly acknowledge the problem, here:

The overgrowth of compliance within insurance and financial companies is a direct result of the lack of connection between the consumer and the product provided. And that rigid compliance? It has stifled innovation for these industries.

We define innovation as the synchronized intersection between an unmet consumer need the product, service or business model that fulfills that need, and the communication that connects the two.

If insurance or financial companies take an innovative route to introduce products that are easy to explain so consumers understand them, the “safety text” won’t be needed. As we all know, that text is only there to prevent consumers from pointing at the insurance company and stating, “I didn't know that.”

But the important insight here is that the “I didn’t know that” accusation comes from a lack of trust, caused by the consumer’s lack of understanding of what the products even are.

Financial and insurance companies aren’t communicating in plain language to the consumer — and the consequences, namely confusion, are costly (especially as it pertains to gaining new market share). But, completing the communication arc of the innovation loop will eliminate that confusion.

When it comes down to consumers, it isn't about Flesch scores and reading levels. It’s about what people want to take in and how they absorb it.

Imagine a world where the consumer understands what the financial or insurance company is saying well enough to be able to explain a product or service to someone else. And moreover, imagine that the explanation the consumer gives is accurate. Even better, imagine that word of mouth communication happening among millions of social media users —every day.

By innovating the language, financial and insurance companies will empower their consumers to become evangelists, just like other brands do. And when the consumer is empowered, the brands reap the rewards.

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