Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) creates a new department, “CO³” – communication, collaboration & cooperation -, to strengthen collaboration within its Group companies.
According to the announcement, the focus of this department is on boosting cross-border know-how sharing as well as on intensifying cooperation between VIG companies located in the same country, thereby enhancing the local multi-brand strategy.
VIG CEO Hartwig Löger on the name of the new department and the tasks it covers: “CO³ is based on three key pillars: ‘Collaboration’ and ‘cooperation’ describe the way we work together within the Group, while ‘communication’ summarises all our internal and external communication and marketing activities. The superscript ‘³’ symbolises the forces that we mobilise with these pillars.”
VIG comprises more than 50 insurance companies and pension funds in Central and Eastern Europe. It also counts with around 29,000 employees in 30 countries that contribute in-depth expertise from their respective areas to the Group.
“VIG’s strategy is geared towards growth, sustainability, customer proximity and local entrepreneurship. The know-how sharing within the Group is thus pivotal to VIG’s success. CO³ lends structure and visibility to the knowledge transfer and creates new ways of networking,” the Group stated.
Karin Kafesie will be heading the new department, which falls under the responsibility of CEO Hartwig Löger.
Kafesie is a business economist with over two decades of experience in the insurance sector and contributes extensive management experience and international project expertise to her new role.
Prior to joining VIG Holding, she was part of Wiener Städtische Versicherung, an Austrian VIG company, where she was responsible for strategic marketing, customer communication and innovation management.
In a double hatting, she also established the corporate startup “viesure”, which she managed during the past five years.
Commenting on Kafesie’s new role, Löger commented: “Communication is the be-all and end-all for any kind of collaboration. I am delighted that Karin Kafesie, a proven communications expert, joins us in this exciting position.
“She also brings in deep expertise in business development. Working together with her team and with colleagues from the Group’s numerous countries, she will make best practices visible and establish new ways of collaborating, utilising the swarm intelligence of our Group.”
