HALIFAX, April 11, 2002 – With the introduction of its new logo,
Maritime Life is not only sporting a new look, but has also renewed its commitment to
customers. As part of a journey that focuses on the needs of customers and partnerships,
Maritime Life has adopted a new way of interacting with customers on the Web.
“Our new Web site is the first tangible example of our
renewed commitment to our customers and partners,” says Bill Black, president and
CEO. “Our new logo and corporate colors are an important expression of Maritime Life,
but they are secondary to our renewed focus on our core strengths and quality experiences
that are demonstrated on the site. We care most about the impact we are having on those
doing business with us. The new visual elements are simply a clear expression of the
experience we aspire to deliver.”
Maritime Life’s new Web site (www.maritimelife.ca)
has been redesigned to improve navigation so that it is more intuitive for visitors and can better
meet their needs while aligning with the new company visual identity. The site will also
serve as the doorway to existing specialty sites that were previously kept as separate
entities, thus providing customers easier access to information.
The Web site and the new visual identity are expressions of
research conducted with customers, employees and business partners to better understand
how the company was perceived and whether the existing logo aligned with this image. The
research revealed a highly consistent message that we were viewed as: supportive,
accessible, willing to be flexible, sensitive to client needs, and open, down-to-earth and
approachable. While encouraged by the positive feedback, we also found that the Bluenose
logo, while recognizable to some, didn’t convey the experience of Maritime Life.
“Our research told us that the Bluenose no longer
tells the full Maritime Life story. The Bluenose is part of our roots and traditions and
has served us very well for the past 30 years,” says Black. “Maritime Life has
grown and evolved since we adopted the Bluenose in the 70’s and part of our continued
growth means having to retire this logo.”
Maritime Life has grown tremendously in recent years –
building on its own strengths, the strength of its relationship with John Hancock, and
also by pulling together the strengths of numerous other companies through a series of
acquisitions, Maritime Life has doubled its size in the past five years. As a stronger and
larger company, Maritime Life strives to preserve the things it’s valued for, the things
that form the essence of the company.
“It’s all about the experience customers, partners and
employees have with us,” says Black. “We are in a relationship-based business.
It’s important for us to understand what the customer experience should be, and to deliver
on it every time. The Web site and new visual identity is just one step in our journey –
we are focused not on one immediate win, but on a thousand small victories along the way.”
Founded in 1922, Maritime Life is one of Canada’s fastest
growing financial services companies, offering financial security through a selection of
personal insurance, disability and critical illness insurance, investment products,
pensions, and group life and health products and services. Based in Halifax, Nova Scotia,
Maritime Life provides benefits to over two million Canadian families through offices in
Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Kitchener, Oakville, Calgary and Vancouver. With over 2,000
employees, employee satisfaction is a top priority and the reason Maritime Life was named
one of the “50 Best Companies to Work for in Canada” by the Globe and Mail’s
Report on Business Magazine.
Maritime Life comes from a tradition of strength and
stability. Our company is a subsidiary of Boston-based John Hancock Financial Services
Inc. John Hancock Financial Services, Inc. (NYSE: JHF) and its affiliated companies
provide a broad array of insurance and investment products and services to retail and
institutional customers. As of December 30, 2001, John Hancock and its subsidiaries had
total assets under management of $124.2 billion US.
