With so many clever insurance spots and jingles, our challenge was to identify the insurance buyer and inspire the kind of creative that would inspire loyalty toward American Family. Our account planning team’s objective was to get consumers to connect with American Family Insurance over the tech-savvy campaigns of All State, Geico, and other insurance giants. We transformed our survey information into pointed focus group and friendship group guides, interpreting the data into a succinct but expressive creative brief. Here are a few snippets: The Creative Brief Target Audience Millennials 18–35 years old who are looking to get insurance and get it out of the way. They want to live life and take risks without worrying how their actions or others’ actions will impact them. They live in a time when living means taking risks. They want to pay their insurance fast and get it out the way—but most of them find that when they actually need to use their insurance, they want it to take care of them, and they want someone to talk to who can help them fast. They want their agent to be the friend on their speed dial that they haven’t talked to in a while but need now, knowing that their friend will be understanding and come through for them. They are looking for personal connections on their time. Insight I don’t want to need my insurance, but when I need it, I want someone to be there for me, to talk me through the process. Promise American Family agents are there for you when you
need them with heartfelt service that can’t be duplicated by layers of automated bureaucracy. Support • Agents who are a friend to your cause and don’t get in your way • Modestly priced insurance • Years of great customer service Tone is: authentic, heartfelt, down-to-earth; not gimmicky or mascot-based, slapstick, fear-based Campaign Execution The creative brief led to the execution of a smart campaign based on the idea that “We Know Better” than technology. It harnessed American Family’s greatest strength—human assistance—because, as the campaign explained, “smart cannot replace human.” The campaign recommended an agent phone based in each social media venue, including Google hangout, Facetime, Twitter, Facebook, and Skype (left); live demonstrations; web banners (right page, top); and print (right page, bottom), radio, and TV spots.