Hollard Plants The ‘Local Is Lekker’ Seed At NAMPO

NAMPO, which takes place just outside the small Free State town of Bothaville, attracts tens of thousands of visitors from all over South Africa and the sub-continent, who come to learn about the latest in farm equipment, animal husbandry, crops, and land and water management.

And insurance, of course. Hollard made its debut at NAMPO 2018 with a striking stand in the NAMPO Hall – the very centre of the four-day show.

Hollardites from all over, including Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and smaller centres, joined forces to engage with the public and brokers about Hollard’s Agri, trucking and life insurance offerings. What better way to illustrate its eyeballs-and-handshakes way of doing business than with, well, eyeballs and handshakes?

“Agriculture is very clearly a core element of the South African economy. As South Africa’s second-largest independent insurer, we have a responsibility to be meaningfully involved in this sector,” says Andries Wiese, head of Hollard Insure’s Agri Centre of Excellence, who was in his element at NAMPO.

“This tallies squarely with our Better Futures marketing campaign, which promotes the concept that doing good and creating a better future for everyone is at the heart of doing good business. By supporting the agriculture sector, we’re doing something positive for our country as a whole: we’re helping farmers to mitigate risk and remain sustainable, we’re helping to create and retain jobs, and we’re helping to guarantee food security.”

And if NAMPO 2018 illustrated anything, continues Wiese, it’s that agriculture as a segment is technologically advanced, requires massive capital investment and faces a host of risks, ranging from drought and disease to natural disasters. These factors demand smart insurance solutions, and the expert advice and support of specialist agri brokers – not to mention Hollard’s local-is-lekker branch network, which best understands local conditions.

“We know agri, and our branches know the circumstances in which their customer bases operate; this translates to appropriate, clever insurance solutions for every client. Together with our expert broker partners, we can achieve the win-win-win for our customers, those brokers and ourselves,” argues Wiese.

“Vital to this success is the broker. Hollard works almost exclusively through brokers, who are at the core of our business model – and if ever there was a sector that illustrates the immense value that they offer to our customers, it’s agriculture. That’s why Hollard recently launched its two-year #LongLiveTheBroker campaign because we believe in the longevity of our broker partners.”

So how did the Hollard stand fare at NAMPO?

“Things went very well,” says Wiese. “Our visitors remarked positively about our visually striking stand, where the local-is-lekker message was prominently displayed. But more importantly, they were impressed by Hollard as a competitive and dynamic insurer. We look forward to reaping the benefits of our NAMPO experience!"