The firm Lussier Dale Parizeau ischanging its name to LUSSIER, Financial services firm. President and Chief Operating Officer Michel Laurin granted Insurance Portal an exclusive interview to explain why one of the largest brokerage firms in Quebec is rebranding. “We want to highlight our unity,” he says.
All subsidiaries active in segments other than property and casualty insurance, along with the firms that had kept their name after being acquired, will now bear the Lussier name.
“One of the first objectives of the new name is to show our strength, our capacity. We are a leader. We worked with a marketing firm just for the logo, the font selected is intended to emphasize solidity, and at the same time, the human aspect and the closeness of a family. It is a family name that is not anonymous,” Laurin points out.
“We have not changed the name just for change’s sake. It’s really related to the change in the DNA of our firm, which is no longer just a P&C firm, with a few life and health insurance operations on the side,” he says.
“We have become a financial services and consulting organization, in health and safety, human resources, compensation, pay equity, etc., with the latest acquisitions made by André Lussier over the past five years. We have become a multidisciplinary organization, under the same umbrella, so we want to modernize this umbrella and simplify our name,” he explains.
Lengthy reflection
Reflection on the name change began even before Laurin arrived in August 2019. “It was a long process. We also consulted people from all the firms that have joined us over the years,” Laurin says.
The rethinking of the brand name was also motivated by the many acquisitions made in sectors other than insurance, such as health and safety, and human resources consulting.
“We redefined our corporate mission, values, and ambition. We have been working to put in place a common foundation for all parts of our organization. Now we’re saying let’s bring it all together under one brand, a single brand,” he continues.
Given the challenging recruitment context in the industry, having a strong brand as an employer is an advantage, Laurin adds.
“It’s also one of the goals to modernize our brand image, revamp it and create a new one. We’ll have an image for the market, for customers, and to attract resources to us. Once onboard, we can offer them a well-defined customer service offering,” he says.
A brief look back
Founded by Dolard Lussier in 1915, the firm has been passed down through four generations of the Lussier family. Blanche Lachapelle Lussier became president of the firm after her husband’s death in 1954. Their four children took over in 1969, under the leadership of Roger Lussier.
In 1984, the president left the family business to found his own firm with three of his children: André, Claire and Brigitte. The firm Dolard Lussier, which had 70 employees and five branches at the time, was sold to Roger in 1992. André took over the company in 1995.
In the summer of 2014, Lussier Insurance Firm and Financial Services Inc. announced the acquisition of the Quebec operations of Dale Parizeau Morris Mackenzie (DPMM). The company changed its name to Lussier Dale Parizeau in April 2015.
Luc-André Lussier is Chairman of the Board. His father André, who hired Michel Laurin, is still Vice-Chairman of the Board. The company now has close to 800 employees in 26 branches throughout Quebec.
