Tech Talks — IBM welcomes Jetty
This week IBM kicked off their Tech Talks series, a new strategic initiative where we bring FinTech’s to IBM’s office for a night of food and futuristic conversations about shared industries.
Our first FinTech came to us by way of MetaProp NYC, an accelerator that is “the world’s leading growth program for early stage companies.” CEO Aaron Block gave us a rundown of their business, PropTech, and some of his thoughts on the future of technology and how it’s changing the real estate space. “As a rule, real estate is about 7 years behind in terms of technology adoption and innovation, so we see it as a great place to invest in the future,” he said, rolling up his sleeves to embrace the new, casual IBM. “You know, coming in to IBM, I didn’t know how buttoned up to be,” he joked. It’s good to be the #NewIBM!
Next on deck — and really, the star of the evening — was Rob Hayden, the Head of Business Development at Jetty, a new company (they officially launched April 4, 2017!) that aims to change renter’s insurance and more.
Why Are We Here?
The first slide in Jetty’s presentation posed a simple question. Why are we here? “This isn’t a philosophical question,” Rob Hayden said, “it’s just literally why is Jetty here.” And the answer is an easy one, “The American Lifestyle has changed dramatically- insurance should too,” Hayden continued. This gap — where insurance has failed to keep up with the changing needs of Americans — is the jumping off point for Jetty’s business. It is no secret that insurance — along with many other industries — has not kept up with millennials specifically, and Jetty has set out to change that.
There are many companies in other industries that Jetty looks up to for their disruptive nature. Hayden noted clothing startup Everlane, digital makeup and skincare company Glossier, and food company Blue Apron as just a few examples — they have disrupted the likes of Gap, Lancome, and traditional grocery stores. Looking to startups like these, that have been around a little longer and have used digital technology and a keen understanding of the millennial, Jetty poses the question, who is going to be the next popular disruptor for the insurance industry?
The hope is that it will be Jetty, although Hayden points out that with how quickly technology changed businesses, they too will may someday face disruption; “Perhaps to our kids or grandkids, Jetty will be known as the old insurance company that needs to be disrupted — everything is moving that quickly. Maybe that is how we’ll know we’ve made it.”
The FinTech Ecosystem in Working Order
The consulting business uses the word ecosystem so much that it has lost some of its meaning. But, the idea of an ecosystem, and especially a FinTech one, is still a prominent one in business today. Hayden described how at Jetty, they’re working to create partnerships with other startups that will bring an ecosystem to life. The FinTech ecosystem would work to connect the dots and ultimately create a remarkable user experience. “For example, let’s say that you live in New York and you get bedbugs,” Hayden explains, “and you just found out because you got to work, are itchy from a lot of bug bites you just noticed, and someone told you they are bedbugs. What we want to happen is that all you have to do is open the app on your phone and tell us — Hey, I have bed bugs. Then, at the end of the day, we’ve delivered new sheets from Brooklinen (a partner) we’ve made you a hotel reservation, and we’ve sent you $300 to have your apartment fumigated.” Basically, they want to be a one-stop solution that you can access from anywhere that you bring your cellphone. Without a FinTech ecosystem, this would not be possible. But with one in place, it will take customer service and user experience to a whole new level.
Influencer Marketing — Time to take it seriously
One of (the many!) great questions from the IBM audience was focused on Influencer Marketing, which is defined as “marketing in which focus is placed specific key individuals (or types of individual) rather than the target market as a whole. Hayden responded with a smile at the question, saying “Three things that have been on 60 minutes this year (and in my household, 60 minutes means you made it) IBM Watson, Influencer Marketing, and FinTech. So we’re all relevant here.” And he’s right — while some gawk at influencer marketing, it has wide appeal to a millennial audience.
How does Jetty make it work? By targeting extreme niche audiences instead of spending money for large, complicated marketing campaigns. “Think about it this way,” Hayden says, “we know of a young woman on Instagram who is famous for carrying Birkin Bags — her followers are all interested in luxury handbags, which is something that can be insured by Jetty. If we have her do a simple post ‘it was so easy to insure my bag with Jetty’ we have captured the attention of 50k potential customers that have something that we can help insure.” They spend less money and show up to a targeted audience on a channel that they use heavily — a win win.
What’s Next?
IBM Tech Talks is an initiative that will continue on a monthly basis as a means to build the #NewIBM. For more information, check out #IBMTeckTalks on twitter!
