Die Bayerische Wins OMGV Award for Best Broker Support: What Makes Their 'Zukunftscampus' a Winner?

As an insurance agent or broker, your success depends not just on your own skills, but also on the quality of support you receive from your carrier partners. What kind of digital tools, training, and marketing support do you truly need to grow your business and serve clients better? The annual OMGV Award for Best Broker Support provides a clear answer, voted on by the brokers themselves. In 2021, Die Bayerische emerged as the decisive winner for the second time since 2019, thanks to its innovative "Zukunftscampus" (Future Campus)—a digital training and networking event. With over 1,089 votes cast from eight competing insurer initiatives, the result was unambiguous. This article breaks down why this program resonated so powerfully with intermediaries and what it reveals about the future of carrier-broker relationships in an increasingly digital insurance landscape. Whether you're an independent agent in the US or a Makler in Germany, these insights can help you evaluate and get the most from your partnerships.

The OMGV Award: A Benchmark for Insurer-Broker Collaboration

Since 2018, the Online Marketing Society for Insurance Intermediaries (OMGV), together with the AMC industry network, has presented the OMGV Award. While it honors the best online presence of agencies and brokers, one category is dedicated to the insurers themselves: Best Broker Support. This award is unique because the judges are the brokers. The premise is that insurers face similar challenges to their distribution partners: they must not only inform but inspire their audience—in this case, the brokers—using a variety of digital channels. The core question is: "How do insurers best support their distribution partners digitally? What support do brokers actually want from insurers?"

Beyond Basics: What Brokers Really Value

Of course, brokers need efficient back-office support: good products, seamless API integrations for agency management systems, and fast processing of applications and claims. These are the essential, non-negotiable foundations of a good partnership. However, the OMGV Award focuses on the next level: strategic and educational support that helps brokers grow their businesses. The nominated campaigns are primarily media offerings and initiatives where insurers engage directly with brokers' professional development and marketing needs.

The Winning Formula: Die Bayerische's "Zukunftscampus"

Die Bayerische's winning entry was its digital "Zukunftscampus 2021." This event featured 19 experts presenting on highly relevant topics for modern brokers, such as:

• Portfolio optimization
• Using WhatsApp Business as a marketing tool
• Creating a "wow effect" for clients

All lectures and handouts remain available on the insurer's website, providing lasting value. The broker response was overwhelmingly positive, earning an average grade of 1.88 (equivalent to an A)—far ahead of the other seven contenders, who scored between 2.3 and 2.7.

Broker Feedback: Why the Campus Hit the Mark

The survey data reveals exactly what made the difference. A remarkable 60% of voting brokers gave the Zukunftscampus a positive rating. Crucially:

• Nearly one-third (≈33%) stated: "This is exactly the kind of support I want from insurers."
• Over a quarter (≈25%) agreed: "A good initiative that occasionally helps me in my daily brokerage work."

The OMGV analysis concluded that Die Bayerische's event delivered what brokers desire: contemporary, concise, and engagingly presented content on both product topics and online marketing, delivered by practical, industry-savvy speakers.

Key Takeaways for Insurance Professionals

Whether you're a broker evaluating carriers or an insurer looking to strengthen your distribution channel, the lessons from this award are clear:

1. Invest in Broker Education: The most valued support goes beyond sales materials. Brokers seek actionable knowledge on business growth, digital marketing, and client engagement.
2. Embrace Digital Delivery: Accessible, on-demand digital events (webinars, online campuses) provide flexibility and reach, allowing brokers to learn at their own pace.
3. Focus on Practical Relevance: Content must be immediately applicable to a broker's daily challenges—helping them sell more effectively, streamline operations, or enhance client service.
4. Foster a Partnership Mindset: The most successful insurer-broker relationships are true partnerships where the insurer acts as a business development ally, not just a product wholesaler.

In a market where insurance agents and brokers face high customer expectations and operational inefficiencies, this type of strategic support is not a luxury; it's a competitive necessity for both parties.

Industry Context: Insurers and brokers are grappling with claims backlogs, rising claim frequencies, talent shortages, and manual processes that are costly and slow. In this environment, digital tools and knowledge-sharing initiatives like the Zukunftscampus are vital. They empower brokers to work more efficiently, adopt new technologies, and deliver better service, ultimately strengthening the entire distribution ecosystem against common challenges.