Insurance Ambassadors or Celebrity Coattails?

Celebrities are continuously added and dropped depending on their performance and reputations.  Aligning a brand with a celebrity allow consumers to create an association of the brand with a recognizable personality.  In some cases the celebrity status of the individual is simply used to raise the profile of the brand.  In other cases, the celebrity provide the brand with creditability.  In either case, brands use ambassadors to influence consumer perception of the brand's own "personality".

There are several celebrity endorsement for insurers.  One of the most successful is the use of actor Dennis Haysbert.  Dennis is know for his roles in the Major League films, the movie Heat, and for playing the President in the series 24.  He became Allstate’s spokesman in 2003, using the tagline "That’s Allstate’s stand” and Haysbert has appeared in over 30 commercials since. (1)  The following ad was filmed in 2004.  :

A second example of a high profile and successful celebrity endorsement is Sate Farms use of Green Bay Packers’ quarterback, Aaron Rogers.  Rodgers has become known for his unique touchdown celebration.  This celebration move is know as the "Championship Belt", and Aaron can be seen making this gesture after scoring.  The celebration involves motioning that he is putting an invisible belt on around his waist. (2) State Farm used this well known gesture and renaming it to support the company’s efforts to save consumers money (saving money...  An apparent reoccurring theme in insurance marketing). The “Discount Double Check” is featured in many of State Farm’s recent advertisements.  The concept is simple, an agent reviews your policy to make sure you are not missing any discounts.(3)

Again, the State Farm ads blend, humour, celebrity endorsement, and savings in a effort to persuade customers to seek State Farm insurance products.  Allstate has a slightly different approach by attempting to support it’s brand promise through their slogan “You’re in good hands”.  I guess this mean that not all insurer marketing is mascots, celebrities and premium savings…

Are there any other example of this in the marketplace?

If insurers are not using price, what other marketing strategies are being used?

A Canadian example, eh

Belair Direct is a very similar insurer to Geico.  Both companies are direct writers, meaning they distribute their insurance products directly to consumer without an intermediary such as an insurance agent or broker.  As you can see in the example below, taking from Belairdirect’s website, the company uses both an animated mascot (Knight) and entices consumer with cost saving of “over $500”.  The company is also currently running a television advertising campaign in Ontario and Quebec (the only 2 provinces the company operates).  Unfortunately, this media is only available in french. however, the humour is still obvious.  There are some clear similarities between Geico’s campaigns and the much smaller, less known, Belairdirect.  

Is this Canadian company taking a queue from a much larger American brand? 

Is a mascot, some humour, and cost savings the only way to market insurance?

15 Minutes

A 2012 survey that tracked the most widely recognized car insurance brands in Canada revealed that, despite not selling insurance in the country, Geico had the highest level of brand awareness by Canadian consumers.(1)  This is largely in part to the firm’s highly active television advertising campaign.  The “15 minutes could save you 15% or more on your car insurance” campaign is well known in America and, as a result of watching American television programming, Canadian has been exposed to Geico’s marketing.  This “15 minutes” campaign is also an interesting example of how to incorporate a brand promise into, what has become, a highly successful, and recognizable slogan for the company.

Geico’s televisions campaigns are well documented (2) and have a resonance with consumer due to the highly humourous approach.  Regular television viewers will know the Geico well, and may also remember Geico’s cavemen campaign: “It’s so easy to use, Geico.com, a caveman could do it.”

More recelty, Geico has incorporated professional sports and celebrities into their advertisements.  Gecio is a sponsor of the NHL (another reason hockey watching Canadian are aware of the brand) and a recent campaign asking “How happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to Geico?” featuring retired NBA all-star and notorious shot-blocker Dikembe Mutombo.

Oddly enough, despite the high level of brand recognition that Geico now maintains, the underlying the company’s slogan continues to promote cost savings.  Original, in the early days of the brand, this slogan was used to entice consumer to seek Geico to save money.  A successful brand is typically able achieve higher margins and is able to avoid pricing competition however, despite Geico’s high awareness, the company continues to use a slogan, promising savings.

This discussion asks us to follow these themes into several other areas:

If Geico’s call to action is savings and;

Geico uses both mascots, and celebrities to promote the brand…

Do other North American insurers use this similar strategy?  If not, what are they doing differently?