IAG executives James Orchard, EGM Innovation; Julie Batch, Chief Customer Officer; Peter Harmer, CEO; and Andrew Stead, Director Incubation, photographed at the opening of Firemark Labs in Sydney.
OPERATING PERFORMANCE

CUSTOMER LABS

Customer Labs is responsible for developing IAG’s customer experience strategy using a deep understanding of customer data and insights. Our customer understanding enables us to design product, pricing and marketing innovations. Customer Labs is also responsible for digital innovation across IAG, including identifying and harnessing disruptive technology; building digital apps and ecosystems; brand architecture; human centred design; and new business incubation and venturing.

CUSTOMER AND MARKETING

Customer Labs is building a deep understanding of our customers and their needs so it can help us create new, improved and personalised experiences in an increasingly digital world.

This year, the division defined what a world-leading customer experience would look like, and began to apply these insights to every area where we have contact with customers. It also finalised a new way of defining groups of customers and their different life needs so we can better match our brands and current and future products to their expectations.

By aligning how we measure customer data, and introducing customer training and education programs for all our people, Customer Labs is helping to build a customer-led, data-driven culture across IAG.

DATA AND ANALYTICS

Centralising our customer knowledge and data is delivering additional benefits to our core business.

Customer Labs is building on IAG’s world-class pricing capability by improving the capability and efficiency of pricing approaches and models, and automating them where possible.

It developed and applied an analytics model that identifies fraudulent behaviour and helps improve response and claims effectiveness. The division is also significantly increasing our pricing sophistication by developing and deploying real-time pricing models through digital channels.

DIGITAL

Through Customer Labs, ways of working that are typically used in digital businesses are being introduced across IAG. These include lean manufacturing principles, design thinking concepts and agile and continuous delivery methods. Customer Labs is also responsible for identifying and using disruptive technology and building digital apps and ecosystems.

The division is also working with IAG’s risk, regulatory affairs and security teams to enable more extensive use of cloud services, for more scalable and cost effective infrastructure.

INNOVATION AND VENTURING

Being able to innovate at scale is key to developing new products, services and business. To give innovation the greatest chance of success at IAG, Customer Labs is focused on creating the right environments, frameworks, capabilities and experimental approaches.

Innovation and venturing successes included establishing our Firemark Ventures $75 million fund, Firemark Labs incubation hub in Sydney, and Firemark Labs innovation hub in Singapore.