Insurance advertising has become a persuasive and popular tool that insurance companies use to improve brand recognition and expand their client reach. With the right mix of creative and innovative marketing strategies, insurers can come up with the best insurance ad campaigns that can increase brand awareness and enable them to secure more policyholders.
But insurance advertising has transformed significantly over the years, moving from traditional print, radio, and TV campaigns to digital channels such as social media and web marketing. Nowadays, having a strong online presence is often key in helping insurance companies stand out from the competition.
Insurance Business unveils our picks for the best insurance ad campaigns in this article. The list contains a combination of conventional and digital ads that have made a memorable impact on the insurers’ brand. Insurance professionals can use this piece to get transformative marketing ideas that can help them attract more customers and rake in higher profits. Here are our choices for the best insurance ad campaigns.
With a tumultuous hurricane season expected to prevail across the Atlantic in 2020, State Farm collaborated with tech giant IBM Watson to launch an advertising campaign aimed at delivering personalized safety and preparedness tips to help affected clients. State Farm’s Conversations experience was rolled out on The Weather Channel app and Weather.com and allowed customers to have one-on-one conversations through AI-powered chats, providing them with personalized recommendations to keep them safe and informed during the hurricane season.
The campaign also adopted weather-targeting technology, which enabled it to reach those most likely to be impacted by inclement weather. Conversations allowed State Farm to show brand voice and empathy. This resulted in deeper consumer engagement, meaningful time spent with clients, and increased brand awareness and loyalty, placing Conversations among our list of the best insurance ad campaigns.
AIG ranks among the largest insurance companies in the US and is one of the industry’s most prominent names. Its life and retirement unit, however, has low brand awareness in the financial and retirement markets – the segments that matter the most. To address this, the insurance giant tapped award-winning director Henry-Alex Rubin and production firm Smuggler to create one of the best insurance ad campaigns of all time.
The short-form video, which was done at the height of the pandemic, was shot remotely starring an actual mother and daughter tandem. It told the story of a child taking pride in her mother’s job as a financial advisor during a Zoom lesson. In the video, the child proudly told her classmates how her mom helped people “see the future” and make their lives better.
The campaign was launched during the PGA Championships, which included social media and display ads. It tugged the heartstrings of many and placed a human touch on AIG life and retirement products.
The goal of Allianz’s Prepared for Life ad is to shatter the grim stereotype that insurance is only designed for worst case scenarios, reframing the idea instead to insurance as a tool to help people prepare for the best outcomes. The campaign was launched across several platforms, including print, TV, online, and digital out-of-home (DOOH).
The first video in the series is an 80-seconder entitled The Fountain of Life where Allianz shows the value of insurance as people from different walks of life take part in different water activities. According to the insurer, the insurance ad campaign is designed to “build trust with consumers at a time when brand loyalty is at an all-time low.”
“We believe a strong foundation allows our customers to experience life at its best,” said Christian Deuringer, head of global brand and marketing in a statement. “Through this new platform, we bring to life our brand promise to give people confidence in tomorrow, which reflects in the work we do.”
Direct Line’s The Fixer campaign highlights the importance of tapping notable characters in increasing brand awareness. After finding out that having someone who could fix their problems without hassle was what customers want when contacting their insurers, advertising firm Saatchi & Saatchi felt that Pulp Fiction character Winston Wolf – also known as The Fixer – was a perfect fit to represent this aspect of the company.
After months of intense negotiations, including getting Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino’s approval, this was the result.
The campaign helped raise Direct Line’s profile among its peers and brand awareness among consumers.
On April Fools’ Day 2016, Esurance unveiled a new type of (fake) coverage called election insurance, which was designed to protect the homes of people who, every election, threatened to leave the country if the “wrong” candidate won. “Election Insurance is the smart way to protect your home while you wait out the presidential term,” the San Francisco-based insurer said in the press statement.
Jokes aside, there’s a method to Esurance’s madness. Its goals were twofold:
But the results were far beyond what Esurance expected as the company dominated the April Fools’ Day conversation, with several news outlets featuring the advertisement. The ad also made the roundups of that year’s best jokes rankings, making it one of the best insurance ad campaigns ever.
GEICO is known to invest heavily in advertising campaigns. So, it is not surprising that the Berkshire Hathaway-subsidiary is behind some of the best insurance mascots and characters of all time. Although Martin the Gecko has been the most recognizable aspect of many of the insurer’s commercials, there were also other notable insurance characters, including the Cavemen.
The campaign ran from 2004 to 2010, using the slogan, “so easy a caveman can do it.” During the period, GEICO’s Cavemen commercials became increasingly popular and it spawned a TV series. Unfortunately, the show didn’t achieve the same success and was cancelled after just six weeks of airing. Here’s Caveman taking offense at the use of the slogan.
Ever wondered what happened to GEICO's Caveman after the campaign ended? Has he gone extinct? Find out by clicking the article link.
Insurtech startup Kin Insurance doesn’t have the huge advertising budget of major industry brands, but what it lacks in financing, it makes up for creativity.
Enter Florida Man. The mockumentary-style home insurance campaign follows the hijinks of a long-haired Floridian guy as he encounters mishaps and bizarre accidents that can happen only in Florida. The meme is well-known for its datelined news stories about Florida Man and his wacky misadventures, which according to Kin’s website, result in more clicks and better ratings.
Here’s a sample of Florida Man’s debacles, proving that the best insurance ad campaigns don’t always need mammoth funding – sometimes all it takes is a lot of fun and creativity.
In 2022, with pet ownership booming partly triggered by the pandemic, UK-based pet insurer ManyPets partnered with advertising firm Uncommon to launch a campaign, highlighting how caring for pets can help improve a person’s physical and mental health, especially during trying times.
To start the campaign, ManyPets conducted a survey asking pet owners about the health benefits of having a pet. The findings were then transformed into a visually striking outdoor campaign, which paired the figures with close-up imagery of different pets, along with a catchy copy, like these:
Launched in the UK, the outdoor ads were accompanied by an audio campaign, including podcasts, linear airtime, and Spotify. A series of videos with seven alternate endings were also released a few weeks later.
ManyPets also offers pet coverage in the US and is also one of the country’s largest pet insurance providers.
Ontario-based digital insurance brokerage Mitch Insurance followed up its slick rebrand by unveiling its new mission to “make insurance lovable,” along with a revamped consumer-friendly website.
The new website, which allows insurance buyers to easily browse through the firm’s many offerings and request for quotes, has been named the best insurance website by some award-giving bodies. Here’s a screenshot of the site’s homepage, showing a couple making heart-hand gestures as they watch the sunset over the ocean. Aw... such a lovable sight!
Just to be clear, intentionally killing a policyholder will void all life insurance benefits. But then again, this insurance ad campaign made it crystal clear – in the end, at least.
Ladder’s series of darkly humorous life insurance ads shows a man narrowly escaping his family’s attempts to kill him. It ends with the line, “life insurance so good, they’re gonna want you dead,” then comes the disclaimer.
According to the digital insurer, the campaign is built around its findings that about half of couples with life insurance joke about taking each other out to claim the benefits. The insurtech firm also aims to “redeem life insurance for digital consumers” by making coverage accessible and affordable. One of our picks for the best insurance ad campaigns, So Good can be seen on TV networks across the country, as well as on different streaming platforms.
It is crucial for all companies, not just in insurance, to establish their brands. This makes it easy for consumers to identify and remember their brands, which is important because even if they are able to deliver reliable and efficient products and services, this wouldn’t matter if insurance buyers couldn’t even recall their brand.
To give insurance professionals an idea of what it takes to create the best insurance ad campaigns, Insurance Business checked out the websites of several advertising agencies. Here are some of the tips that we gathered.
Some of the largest insurance companies spend tens to hundreds of millions, sometimes even over a billion dollars just to come up with the best insurance ad campaigns – and for good reason. An effective marketing campaign plays a key role in attracting and retaining policyholders, which can often translate to millions, if not billions of dollars, in profits.
Learn more about the 7 Ps of services marketing for the success of your marketing campaigns in this article.
The table below ranks the insurance companies with the largest ad spending, according to the most recent figures from this website.
Now that you’ve seen our picks for the best insurance ad campaigns, it’s time to check out our choices for the funniest insurance commercials of all time. Just click the link if you want to enjoy a few giggles.
Do you agree with our choices for the best insurance ad campaigns? Is there anything that you think we miss? Key in your thoughts in the comments section below.
