Aviva: Directing enquirers

Gluing together a global network in an intelligent and cost-effective way.

The Site

Aviva brings together the insurers Norwich Union and CGU under one global brand, and uses its site as a central source of information about operations in 34 countries. A global contacts directory, AvivaWorld, is prominent at the top of the home page and is widely featured in navigation panels throughout the site.

Aviva World is a ‘global contact directory’ that appears in a pop-up window. Users can search from a drop-down list either by country (business unit information for “customers”) or company area (“For all other contacts”). Information includes both contacts and, where relevant, links to other parts of the website.

Most corporate areas (investor, media etc) feature the AvivaWorld banner, as do country sites that have adopted the brand. So, for example, an Australian customer will be able to get easily to the investor section. However, subsidiaries that use their own brands do not link to the directory.

The Takeaway

Aviva is tackling the job of gluing together a global network in an intelligent and cost-effective way. By offering and promoting a ‘super-contact’ section such as AvivaWorld it is providing an intuitive route not just between country sites but also between businesses and corporate areas.

There are two potential problems, however. First the AvivaWorld banner is not provided in a standard location on the page: this raises the likelihood that it will on occasion be displaced by more ‘important’ links. Second, the lack of AvivaWorld banners in most country sites severely reduces its stickiness as a glue for the presence. An AvivaWorld link should feature on every page of the web presence. The question, most likely, is whether local companies will let it happen.

First published on 03 August, 2004