Embrace Pet Insurance Blog

Embrace Pet Insurance joins NAPHIA

NAPHIA is the North American Pet Health Insurance Association and Embrace is the 5th member to join (see bottom of this post for the other members).

I'm not one for joining organizations (I have better things to be doing with my time right now) but I thought this is one was worth the time and effort.

Pet insurance is only going to grow if pet parents know more about the benefits of pet insurance and we (embrace) can't do it by ourselves.

Pet Health Insurance Association Grows in Robust Market Adding Additional Pedigree to Board of Directors

May 7, 2009 (Pittsburgh, PA) The North American Pet Health Insurance Association(NAPHIA) announced today the addition of Laura Bennett, President and Chief Embracer of Embrace Pet Insurance to its Board of Directors.

According to Loran Hickton, Executive Director of NAPHIA, “Laura Bennett is a champion of pets and their owners. Along with her team, she has built a successful pet health insurance company, while supporting the most positive principals of third party support for better pet care for all pets. Laura is creative and a keenly focused business person who will add significant value to the efforts of our Board.”

Ms. Bennett has over 16 years of insurance industry experience, including her work for The Canada Life Assurance Company in Toronto, Canada, and Dublin, Ireland, where she held a number of different leadership roles in asset-liability management, strategic planning, and business development. Laura holds an honors mathematics degree from the University of Western Ontario, is a qualified life and health actuary, and holds a chartered financial analyst designation. Laura is the only pet health insurance actuary in North America. Laura received her MBA, with a concentration in Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, where she graduated with several university and peer awards. She was also part of the team that won first prize in the Wharton Business Plan Competition in 2003, with an entry for a pet insurance company.

“I am honored to be a member of this distinguished board and I look forward to working with all pet health insurance providers to educate pet parents on the value of pet insurance, and to promote the highest levels of transparency in pet health insurance,” added Laura Bennett.  

“While this difficult economy presents challenges for consumers and pet owners, it is also driving a robust market for pet insurance; in fact, the market in North America is very strong and has grown over 300% in just the past few years,” continued Hickton.

Research by the American Veterinary Medical Association shows that today pets are truly members of the American family. In the United States, for example, about 60% of households have at least one dog, cat, bird, or other companion animal; many have more than one. There are more than 72 million pet dogs in the U.S. and nearly 82 million pet cats. The owners of these pets spent $24.5 billion on veterinary medicine in 2006, more than double their spending of ten years earlier.

The Board of Directors of NAPHIA:

Jack Stephens, DVM, President & Founder, Pets Best Pet Health Insurance

Darryl Rawlings, CEO & Founder, American Pet Insurance Company, Trupanion™ and Vetinsurance™ brands

Dennis Rushovich, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hartville Group, which includes Hartville Pet Health Insurance, ASPCA Pet Health Insurance™, and Petshealth Care Plan™ brands

Randy Valpy, President & COO, SecuriCan, Petsecure Pet Health Insurance

Founded in 2007, the North American Pet Health Insurance Association is committed to educating and promoting the values and benefits of pet health insurance to North American pet owners, the general public, and the veterinary industry.  For more information, visit www.naphia.orgor call 412-319-7730 / 412-908-9766.

Loran Hickton

Executive Director

North American Pet Health Insurance Association

Are you an animal lover who wants to be a TV star?

If you are an animal lover who's always wanted to be on TV, here's your chance.

GotCast is casting for a major network television show and they're looking for all sorts of people that have animals as an intergral part of their life. If your family has a love for animals & it is an integral part of your lives, business, hobby or philanthropic nature... they want to hear from you.

What are they looking for?

Families w/kids that either have lots of pets/animals (any type), animal related businesses, animal rescues, or interesting animal dynamics in the family! You could rescue animals, train animals, raise animals, work with animals or just love animals and have lots of them.

Applications run from 4/29/2009 12:00 AM to 5/29/2009 11:59 PM and you must be at least 18 years old.

Casting applications are here. Good luck!

Happy Cinco de Mayo from Embrace Pet Insurance

Couldn't resist - Happy Cinco de Mayo from Embrace... and Stella, an Embraced bulldog.

Pet shipping fraudsters resort to bullying

One of the people who contacted us about her dog being shipped from abroad (Cameroon I believe) pushed back at the scammers:

YOU ARE A FRAUD, USING EMBRACE LOGO IS ILLEGAL, I HAVE SENT YOU TWO NOTICES AND YOU HAVENT GOT BACK TO ME, PEOPLE FROM THE REAL EMBRACE ANIMAL INSURANCE HAS TOLD ME TO GO TO POLICE AND THAT THE REAL EMBRACE INSURANCE IS GOING TO FIND YOU, AND PROBABLY TAKE YOU TO COURT...

Here is the disturbing response:

DEAR CLIENT,

WE AREN'T FRAUDSTERS AND THE MAIN REASON WE NEVER GOT BACK TO YOU IS BECAUSE WE DON'T LOVE TO BE INSULTED.THAT LOGO WE USED WAS CREATED BY ONE OF OUR COMPUTER TECHNICIANS SO WE DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT.

BUT NEVER THE LESS WE RECEIVED PAYMENTS TODAY FROM MARY TROTT FOR YOUR PUPPY'S INSURANCE AND CRATE AND WE ARE VERY HAPPY TO INFORM YOU THAT WE WOULD GET HER SHIPPED OVER TO YOU AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

ITS BEEN MORE THAN TWO WEEKS TODAY WE HAVE KEPT YOUR PUPPY HERE AT OUR AIRLINES AND SHE HAS BEEN GIVEN MAXIMUM ATTENTION BY THE PET DEPARTMENT AND BY THE VET.SHE WAS BEEN CHECKED EVERY DAY BY THE VET SO THAT SHE SHOULD FALL SICK OR GET ANY ILLNESS FROM HERE BUT THE VET SAYS THE SERVICES HE RENDERED IS FREE OF CHARGE SO YOU WOULDN'T PAY ANY MONEY FOR THE CHECKS HE GAVE YOUR PUPPY EACH DAY.

WE PROVIDED FOOD TO YOUR PUPPY EVER SINCE SHE WAS BROUGHT HERE UNTIL TODAY AND WE EXPECT YOU TO BEHAVE LIKE A RESPONSIBLE WOMAN AND GET ALL FOOD FEES REFUNDED BACK TO US BECAUSE THE INSURANCE AND CRATE FEES YOU PAID IS GOING TO BE REFUNDED BACK TO YOU AS WELL SO WE WOULD WANT YOU TO PAY OUR MONEY BACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO THAT WE CAN GET HER SHIPPED OVER TO YOU.

RIGHT NOW EVERYTHING IS READY FOR HER FLIGHT SHE HAS ALL HER PAPERS IN ORDER BUT WE WOULD GET HER SHIPPED OVER TO YOU ONLY AFTER YOU GET HER FOOD FEES PAID.WE CALCULATED THE AMOUNT OF FOOD WE GAVE HER IT AMOUNTED TO $790 BUT WE CAN'T ASK YOU TO PAY ALL OF THAT SINCE YOU JUST PAID HER INSURANCE AND CRATE FEES.WE WOULD REDUCE THE AMOUNT SO THAT YOU CAN AFFORD IT.

YOU WOULD PAY ONLY $300 FOR HER FEEDING FEES WHICH WE GAVE HER OR ELSE SHE COULDN'T BE ALIVE TODAY AND YOU BEST KNOW THAT FOOD IS VERY NECESSARY RIGHT..SO GO RIGHT NOW AND GET THE MONEY PAID SO THAT WE CAN RECEIVE THE MONEY AND GET THE PUPPY SHIPPED OVER TO YOU.NOTHING IS WRONG WITH YOUR PUPPY,SHE HAS ALL HER PAPERS AND EVERYTHING BUT HER FEEDING FEES MUST BE PAID FIRST AND WE WOULD GET HER SENT ONCE THAT IS PAID.

ONCE YOU ARE READY TO GET IT PAID LET US KNOW SO THAT WE CAN LET YOU KNOW HOW AND WHERE TO GET THE MONEY SENT TO.

THANKS

MANAGEMENT.

Don't be taken in. There is no insurance. There is no puppy.

Related Posts:
Email scam using Embrace Pet Insurance as a lure - bah! - intro to the pet scam
Follow up on Online Scam using Pet Insurance - what you can do if you have been duped :(
Foreign puppy shipping fraud continues - another sample letter from scammers

Hello to my WorkSmark eMarketing webinar participants!

Welcome to Embrace's blog. Delighted to have you drop by.

As I mentioned in the Webinar, you can navigate around the blog using the left hand panels to give you an overview and of course there's the Lijit search box top right. 

Feel free to post any follow up comments or thoughts in the comments below and I'll be happy to address them if I can. And if you start a blog after the webinar because of the webinar, please post your link in the comments - I'd love to see what everyone gets up to.

Happy blogging!

PS. The presentation is below.

Embrace Pet Insurance Business Blogging Case Study - eMarketing Techniques Webinar

Gratuitous Embrace articles and a Free Webinar

First, a couple of gratuitous mentions of articles highlighting Embrace, the first being "In the Doghouse", an article on the Lloyd's of London website covering heriditary conditions in purebred dogs. With the recent controversial stance by the BBC not to show Crufts, the 118-year old dog show (equivalent to the Westminster Dog Show here in the US), the article talks about different costs for different breeds with a few quotes from me.

The second is an interview I did with Dr. Janet Tobiassen over at the About.com Veterinary Medicine site talking about Embrace and our pet insurance product. Check it out - I'm sure you'll learn something about Embrace you didn't know before.

And finally, join me for a free webinar I'm presenting on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM EDT. It's a business blogging case study based on Embrace Pet Insurance and is kindly being hosted by Worksmart Emarketing, based here in Cleveland. Do come and join in the fun.

Where is Laura?

Don't worry, I'm still around but have not been able to find my blogging feet as of late. I have been tweeting once in a while on Twitter so you are more than welcome to follow me at http://twitter.com/laurabennett.

In the meantime, I'll resume normal programming as soon as I can.

One of our latest Embraced pets - I couldn't resist!

Pet-related Small Business Trends 2009

It's official! Anita Campbell, has posted the detailed Pet Industry Trends for 2009 that I write every year over on her Small Business Trends blog. It's from a small business perspective, a topic dear to my  heart.

In the meantime, here is a summary for you, just in case you didn't have time for the full version.
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Pet-related Small Business Trends 2009

Question: is the pet industry recession-proof as many say it is? Answer: 2009 will prove out whether or not pet owners spend on their pets through thick and thin.

The overwhelming pet-related trend in 2009 will be value for money – spending more thoughtfully and spending less. 2009 spending will level off as pet owners pay more attention to their budgets. The top ten trends are:

1. Pet parents will spend, but more thoughtfully than in recent years

Spending on pet supplies and over-the-counter medicines was projected to increase 5.1% in 2008 from $9.8 billion to $10.3 billion according to the American Pet Products Association (APPA) but before the recession announcement. We would not be surprised to see more modest increases in the range of 2% in 2008, continuing on to 2009.

2. Pet services for pets continue to grow

There’s a reason Wal-Mart is testing grooming in its stores and expanding its pet aisle – pet parents are spending good money in this area, even in a recession. More than $3 billion dollars will be spent on pet services in 2008 according to the APPA, which will likely continue to grow in 2009, but at a lower rate than in prior years.

3. Dog’s Star on the Rise for 2009?

The number of cats in the US have long dominated dog numbers (according to the American Veterinary Medical Association, there are more than 72 million pet dogs in the U.S. but nearly 82 million pet cats). Will the new First Dog inspire people with dog allergies to reconsider bringing a dog in-house?

4. Growing interest in pet health care

Pet parents are taking control of their pets’ health care as they do their two legged children. Technology from the human world continues to make its way into the veterinary tool kit including non-invasive surgeries, human medical devices and services being applied to pets. Pet lovers want, and are demanding, the same treatment options for their pets as they can get for themselves.

5. Pet insurance edges towards the mainstream

We estimate the size of the US pet insurance market to be $271 million in premium in 2008, up from approximately $220 million in 2007 (a 23% increase) and we expect 2009 premium to reach $328 million. We project that the market will grow to $500 million by 2012.

6. Hybrids take center stage

Not just popular for cars, recent years saw the popularity of hybrid dogs grow rapidly. As predicted last year, 2008 saw the growth of the puppy farm hybrid to take advantage of the inflated prices people are paying for these dogs. 2009 is only going to get worse in this respect.

7. Increased competition from larger players.

Larger companies are beginning to recognize the economic potential of the pet industry. Target and Wal-Mart are both expanding their pet selection and using pets in their advertising.

8. Large companies hold off buying smaller just when the prices are right.

Some might say that right now is the perfect time for consolidation in the pet industry because of the incredibly low valuations but don’t expect much to happen in the first half of 2009.   

9. Increased online sophistication from new pet-related businesses in ecommerce, design, and usability.

In 2008, a whole slew of new “WebMD for pets” websites appeared, such as WebVet, PetMD, and PetDoc, and we’ll see them battle it out for the lead position in 2009. Newer players are more sophisticated in design and ecommerce, reaching their target audience via web-site usability, search engine optimization, paid search, and word of mouth marketing.

10. Pet-related blogs continue to grow their influence.

The power of pet-related blogs really showed up during the pet food recall in the middle of 2007. Blogs such as Pet Connection, Pet Sit USA and Dolittler continue to provide high quality commentary on all aspects of pet news and issues.

And one final bonus trend that indicates the direction of pet health …

11. The divergence of the veterinary clinic

On the one hand, the advent of advanced human medical tests and treatments in the pet world has led to the growth in private specialty clinics. At the other end of the spectrum, there is good money to be made by a single veterinarian in a practice focusing on pet wellness, without the need for fancy equipment and more than a handful of support staff. We predict this divergence between wellness and accident/illness care in veterinary clinics will grow noticeably over the next five years.
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So there you have it - what do you think the pet trends of 2009, 2010 and beyond will be?

Sneak peak at the 2009 Pet Trends

I have to keep this short (big day tomorrow) but if you are interested in a sneak peak at the 2009 pet trends coming up, here's a story on some off-the-top-of-my-head comments to journalist Darcy Lockman made on the subject a month ago in her article A Dog-Centric Look Back at 2009.

The biggest trend Darcy thought for 2009?

But what is Bennett's biggest prediction for 2009? She thinks the popularity of adopting a shelter dog will skyrocket. "Shelters and rescues will be the big thing after the Obamas move into the White House. Everyone will want to say, 'I got my dog from the same place the president got his.'"

What do you think?

News: Embrace Pet Insurance Secures Over $2 Million in First Institutional Funding Round

You may have seen our press release this week - we've just raised our first round of institutional funding. Woo-hoo!

In the evolution of developing company, it's quite a big accomplishment to pursuade professional investors to take a plunge in one's company, particularly in this economic environment, so we feel very positive about our next phase of growth.

“We are excited about NCT Venture's decision to invest in our company and see this funding as a tremendous vote of confidence in our product leadership and growth strategy, particularly in these difficult economic times,” said Bennett, Chief Executive Officer of Embrace. “This investment will help us continue to deliver the industry’s best pet insurance product suite to pet parents, grow our sales and marketing support, and become one of the few in the industry to do so profitably.”
[That Bennett, she's such a know-it-all :)]

We're particularly pleased with NCT Ventures as our investing partners. They are entrepreneurs as well and know from experience the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. We are looking forward to working with them to grow Embrace.

NCT Ventures (www.nctventures.com) is a Columbus, OH-based venture capital firm that is founded by entrepreneurs. The NCT investment team is passionate about people and they believe an idea is only as good the entrepreneurs behind it. Over the past 20 years NCT has helped build and grow many successful companies and they get excited about sharing experiences, methods and time with entrepreneurs through hands-on operational support. NCT’s investment focus is in marketing, logistics and disruptive business models that are headquartered in the Midwest.

Now that we have raised some money, don't be looking for an Embrace Super Bowl ad any time soon (nor a placement on a cable home renovation show - please stop calling!)

It's time to stay focused and continue to grow. This difficult economy is going to be a test but when we make it through the other side, we'll be a better company for it.

Now, back to work; no time for slacking...