A clever marketing campaign in the US has transformed one company's brand and distribution. Jason Hurley explains.
Ihave a problem, I am an actuary and I married an actuary, so I guess there’s not much hope for our kids. A wise man once told me that when actuaries breed, you either get more actuaries or kids who are definitely not. This certainly could be the case for my two oldest children.
My older boy is rational, logical and, of course, is good at ‘actuarial’ things, such as mathematics, languages and chess. The same cannot be said for my daughter: she is imaginative, creative, unpredictable and very much a ‘people person.’
The difference would be clear in how they might buy insurance. My son would research numerous websites, look for the best price, read terms and conditions and look at each product’s value-added services. My daughter, on the other hand, would just find something she likes – especially if it’s something friendly, funny and a bit different.
DUCK call
When marketing we in the industry have to appeal to both people’s rational and emotional sides. A great example is the AFLAC duck, from American Family Life Assurance Company, a leading provider of health, cancer and income protection insurance that sells throughout the US and in several other countries.
Why a duck? Many years ago AFLAC’s marketing people realised that if you say “AFLAC, AFLAC, AFLAC” repeatedly it sounds like a quacking duck. So, the AFLAC duck was born. In the campaign’s first year, it made advertising history by catapulting AFLAC’s name recognition from 12% to more than 90%, where it remains to this day.
The AFLAC duck is now prominently featured on the company’s website, on its corporate identity materials, and is a major player in Aflac’s television, newspaper and magazine ads.
The company even gives away AFLAC toy ducks – indeed a recent news story reveals that George H. W. Bush, the former president of the USA, wrote a letter requesting two new ducks for his dog Sadie. The AFLAC duck, Sadie’s favourite toy, had gone missing, and of course, she wanted a new one.
The AFLAC duck might arrive in different places for different reasons, themes and so on, but the message is always consistent: when you are in trouble, AFLAC will be there to help.
The latest series of AFLAC advertisements show the poor duck is unwell. In the first, he enters rehabilitation, going to the gym, swimming in a pool, and working the weight machines under the watchful eye of his rehabilitation therapist.
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