New York Life has been running an ad campaign for a few months now, and I've got to say that the offer makes perfect sense...even if the premise doesn't, at least at first glance.
The idea is simple: give life insurance as a gift.It fits right into the context of our lives today, just as the standard marketing themes of impulse, luxury, and wanton excess (in large or small servings) seem oddly detached.
The premise that an insurance policy could be a gift is still a little strange -- I immediately wonder whether giving someone a gift certificate for a flu shot would also qualify -- but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Tough times require thoughtful, responsible decisions in the place of what were once impulsive or frivolous choices.
Responsibility, maturity, and the values those qualities both offer and represent are far more likely to survive the test of budget consideration, even if they don't quite fit the tweet-test of immediate relevancy:"What did you get your husband for your first wedding anniversary?""I insured his life.""Wow, you hopeless romantic, you!"I find this campaign somewhat similar to the spots Lexus has been running for a few years now, in which a spouse wakes up on Christmas morning to discover in the driveway a shiny new luxury SUV with a big red bow on it. It's a nutty proposition, but innovating new uses for existing products is a powerful idea.
In a challenging marketplace, no brand can afford to waste creativity on trying to attach abstractions to products or services, but rather finding ways to make stuff relevant to the lives of the people who are supposed to buy it. Consumers aren't asking for more Facebook friends or funny videos; they want to know if they can repurpose their toothpaste as caulk for bathroom tiles, or if company management really and truly knows how safe/risky a financial instrument might be.
Marketers can run imaginatively brilliant campaigns declaring fossil fuels companies are leading the charge to green technology all day, but nobody will care until they see substantive and sustainable proof of said efforts.So why not put a bow on a car, or wrap up an insurance policy for a birthday party?
Fitting what we're selling into the needs of consumers, instead of trying to make them need what we're selling, seems like a smart strategy these days. It doesn't have to be any less creative or sexy than the traditional approaches to market. It just has to be smarter. And more credible.I wonder how New York Life is faring with its campaign. Any dim bulbs got an insight?
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