TRUSTED CHOICE® RETURNS TO TV NEXT MONTH
Two-week, nationwide ad flight runs from March 14-27
ALEXANDRIA, Va., Feb. 17—Trusted Choice® advertising will return to a television set near you next month when a two-week, nationwide ad flight airs, announces Ronald A. Smith, CPCU, chairman of the consumer branding program’s Board of Directors.
The advertising will run from March 14 through 27 and will be featured on several prominent cable networks including ESPN, Fox News Channel, Turner Network Television (TNT), The Home & Garden Television (HGTV) and The History Channel.
“We are extremely excited about this new advertising program because it will expose millions of consumers to the Trusted Choice® brand,” says Smith, who also is president of Smith, Sawyer & Smith, Inc., a Rochester, Ind.-based independent insurance agency. “Through our advertising and our public relations activities, consumers will learn about the valuable benefits of a Trusted Choice® agency—choice of companies, customization of coverages and advocacy support. This understanding will lead consumers to select a Trusted Choice® agency to handle their insurance needs.”
During the March flight Trusted Choice® ads will appear 53 times nationwide. Highlights include PGA Golf, specifically The Players Championship, and SportsCenter on ESPN; the O’Reilly Factor on Fox News; Modern Marvels on The History Channel; and movie programming on TNT. Go to www.TrustedChoice.com/March to view the complete March ad flight schedule.
The March flight is the first of four in 2005 for the branding program. Two additional cable television campaigns are slated for the year—May 9 through 22 and September 12 through 25. The May and September schedules will be released soon.
Trusted Choice® will conduct its first-ever online ad campaign from June 13 to August 21. This campaign will feature banner ads on lifestyle-related Web sites, such as mortgage and car loan sites, that have a logical insurance tie-in.
Agencies can maximize their participation in Trusted Choice® by running their own ads in their community during the three television ad flights, says Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big “I”) CEO Robert A. Rusbuldt.
“The power and effectiveness of the national advertising will be enhanced by agencies that tie their local advertising into the national campaign,” says Rusbuldt. “Local advertising increases an agency’s market exposure and leads to greater brand awareness by local consumers. We strongly encourage all Trusted Choice® agencies to conduct local advertising that compliments the national television ad flights.”
To help participating agencies take advantage of these advertising opportunities, the branding program has developed a series of tag-able TV, radio and print ads that agents can use to promote their Trusted Choice® agency. Branding program participants can preview and order these tag-able materials at www.TrustedChoice.com by logging into the “Agents/Brokers” area and then click on “Advertising.”
Trusted Choice® was created by the Big “I” and several leading agency companies to highlight the benefits independent agencies and brokerage firms offer consumers. Just three years after its inception, thousands of independent insurance agencies and brokerages throughout the country are participating in the branding program as are 29 leading companies.
Ten national insurers are Trusted Choice® partners: Encompass Insurance, Markel Insurance Company, MetLife Auto & Home, Ohio Casualty Insurance, Drive Insurance from Progressive, Rain and Hail Insurance Service, Safeco Insurance and three Unitrin, Inc. divisions: Kemper Auto and Home, Unitrin Business Insurance and Unitrin Specialty.
Eighteen regional insurers are partners: Allied Insurance, America First Insurance, Capital Insurance Group, Central Insurance Companies, Colorado Casualty, Consumers Insurance, GoAmerica Auto Insurance, Golden Eagle Insurance, Hawkeye-Security Insurance, Indiana Insurance, Liberty Northwest Insurance Corp., The Main Street America Group, Maine Mutual Group, Montgomery Insurance, National Security Fire & Casualty, Peerless Insurance, Selective Insurance Group and Summit Insurance (R.I.). Additionally, InsurBanc, a federal thrift bank created to serve the unique banking needs of independent agents and brokers, is a strategic partner.
Trusted Choice® is being promoted nationally through a combination of advertising, company partner ingredient branding, public relations, member agency marketing and Internet communications. All media direct consumers to www.TrustedChoice.com, where they will find the Trusted Choice® Agency Locator and consumer information on relevant insurance topics.
Trusted Choice® is the consumer marketing identity for thousands of independent insurance agencies and brokerages and their branch locations. These firms offer a choice of companies and policies, customized coverages, and advocacy support. Web address: www.TrustedChoice.com.
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