Page 7 - The Bureau

The first of these was in March 1998 in Money

Marketing…’Bureau offers instant IFA Websites’
and Insurance Times…Website offer to small fi rms’.

This was followed by Brokers’ Monthly in May…

1998 Brian Susman* talks to Alastair Murray
about The Bureau’.

The following year in 1999 it enjoyed

monthly press mentions in insurance

and financial publications as well as
CGU’s own in-house magazine
Insurance IQ. In an article entitled

‘Net Profit’ CGU published a selection

of Website case studies published

during the year and a checklist of
questions for brokers to ask when

designing a Website. One of these key
questions was …’what a Website can do

for you’…which at the time was seen as a lot.

The majority of Websites created by The Bureau
included many of the features still used today,

albeit now a lot slicker. Some were more
pertinent at the time, including ‘Feedback’ and

‘Information Request’ forms onto which site
visitors emailed their replies and comments.

At a time when firms and their customers were
learning how to use this new Internet media

platform, both were experimenting.

Most Club Elite brokers opted for specially
produced ‘Website Promo Cards’ with ‘See Us

On The Internet’. The Bureau had these
personalised for each broker and IFA to send

out and attract new visitors and enquirers to

their specific Websites, with each displaying
the broker’s or IFA’s Web address. In these early
days direct mail was still an important marketing method.