Don Cherry (pictured) is considered by many to be the face of Canadian hockey. Now, he’s also the face of InsureLine Brokers.
InsureLine franchises will now have the benefit of using Cherry’s celebrity as a marketing tool, thanks to the tell-it-like-it-is hockey presenter signing a multi-year celebrity endorsement.
Aly Kanji, president and CEO of InsureLine Brokers, said the endorsement deal was an important arrangement for the broker network.
“I think brokers need to do a [better] job of building strong brands that Canadians know and recognize and trust,” said Kanji. “We felt that, in order to do that, a celebrity endorsement was one of the ways that you can achieve that quickly, because you can align yourself with a brand that’s already well recognized. And in the case of Don, for example, he doesn’t do it [endorsements] often, so when he does we feel like Canadians will listen.”
Cherry – named as one of the top 10 Canadians of all-time in a CBC poll and also ranked as one of the most trusted Canadians by Reader’s Digest – will now feature on InsureLine ads online, in print, on the radio, and at local community events.
Among the most recognizable people in Canada, Cherry is best known as the flamboyantly-dressed and outspoken foil to Ron MacLean’s straight-man on the popular “Coach’s Corner” segment on
Hockey Night in Canada – the most watched sports cast in Canada. He is also a former NHL coach, most notably with the Boston Bruins.
“We believe that our partnership with Don Cherry will exponentially boost our brand recognition and marketing efforts – benefiting our national advertising, and the individual advertising efforts of our franchisees,” Kanji said.
In a wider sense, Kanji said the industry in Canada needed to do more of this type of marketing – to better promote itself to the public, and become more visible.
“If you ask me, I really think the Canadian insurance industry as a whole has done a poor job of building brands,” explained Kanji. “I believe that building a brand is going to become increasingly more important in insurance – and we’re seeing that now with competition from direct writers, spending a lot of money to build and promote their brands – and we’re starting to see insurers promote their own brands.”
Perhaps this star turn will kick-start other brokers to follow suit, to better build their brand visibility.
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