TRUSTED CHOICE® SUMMER ’06 AD BLITZ KICKS OFF JUNE 19
Campaign comes at perfect time for local agency tie-in advertising
ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 1, 2006—Trusted Choice® is launching a major summer advertising campaign that will give participating agencies the perfect opportunity to run local tie-in advertising.
The Trusted Choice® Summer ‘06 Ad Blitz kicks off June 19 and continues through Aug. 31. The campaign will feature nationwide TV ads, a 45-day Internet ad campaign on popular consumer Web sites, as well as business-to-business ads in magazines catering to 13 business sectors highly served by independent agencies.
“This extensive advertising campaign is a great opportunity for participating agencies to run tie-in ads in their communities that establish their agency as the consumer’s smart choice for insurance and financial services,” explains Ronald A. Smith, CPCU, president of Smith, Sawyer & Smith, Inc., a Rochester, Ind.-based Trusted Choice® agency, and chairman of the brand program’s Board of Directors.
“And agencies will get significantly more exposure since many consumers will think all the national ads are about the local Trusted Choice® agency,” continued Smith.
Top-rated cable networks selected for this summer ad blitz and the dates for each are Fox News—June 19-July 9; CNN and CNN Headline News—July 10-July 30; and The Weather Channel—Aug. 7-27. The spots on these networks will ensure that the Trusted Choice® brand and its more than 6,100 participating agencies will be seen by millions of consumers. In all, 180 spots will air coast to coast from June 19-Aug. 27. Network ad schedules are available at the “Advertising” section of the “Agent/Broker” area of www.TrustedChoice.com.
Trusted Choice® Internet ads will appear on the AOL.com, MSN.com and Yahoo.com Web sites from July 17-Aug. 31. The banner ads will be featured in high-traffic areas, including the e-mail, home, real estate, career and finance pages.
Trade magazines serving restaurants; plumbing, heating and air conditioning contractors; concrete contractors; gas stations; housing construction contractors; truckers; and other industries will feature prominent Trusted Choice® business-to-business ads through August as well.
Brand program Executive Director Jeffrey A. Myers encourages all participating Trusted Choice® agencies to run local tie-in ad campaigns—print, radio, TV or billboards—to compound the benefit to them from the nationwide ad activity.
“Each Trusted Choice® agency can leverage this national ad blitz to increase local consumer awareness of their business. This leveraging can be accomplished by running a tie-in ad campaign in local newspapers, or on local television and radio stations,” explains Myers. “In many communities outside major metropolitan areas, air time or ad space is relatively inexpensive and a great way to reach local consumers. In some cases, Trusted Choice® agencies have paid as little as $10 for a 30-second TV spot.”
The brand program makes it easy for participating Trusted Choice® agencies to advertise by providing customizable TV, radio, print and billboard ads that they can run in their local market. Trusted Choice® also provides helpful guides on buying print and broadcast media, says Myers.
“It’s as easy as obtaining the customizable ad of your choice, securing placements with your selected media, and giving them the ads so your agency name and contact information can be added to the spots or print ads,” says Myers.
“Remember, every time a consumer sees a Trusted Choice® ad and the logo, whether it’s a national or an agency-sponsored ad, it helps increase recognition of the brand, which, in turn, is the kind of activity that can drive business to the agency’s doorstep,” continues Myers. “So agents can invest a little time and a small amount of their resources in advertising to raise the profile of their Trusted Choice® agency with local consumers. That investment can pay big dividends for the agents’ business.”
Participating agencies can obtain the customizable ads and the media-buying guides in the “Advertising” section at the “Agents/Brokers” section of www.TrustedChoice.com.
Launched in 2001 by the Big “I” and several agency system companies, Trusted Choice® is the national consumer marketing brand that highlights the benefits consumers get—choice of companies, customized policies and advocacy support—when using a Trusted Choice® independent agency. The growing brand program is supported by 33 leading agency system insurance companies.
Eleven national insurers are Trusted Choice® company partners: Drive Insurance from Progressive, Encompass Insurance, Hartford Steam Boiler, Markel Insurance Company, MetLife Auto & Home, Ohio Casualty Insurance, Rain and Hail Insurance Service, Safeco Insurance and three Unitrin, Inc. divisions: Kemper Auto and Home, Unitrin Business Insurance and Unitrin Specialty.
A total of 21 regional or single-state domiciled insurers are Trusted Choice® company 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, Harleysville Insurance, Indiana Insurance, Liberty Northwest Insurance Corp., The Main Street America Group, Maine Mutual Group, Missouri Employers Mutual Insurance, Montgomery Insurance, National Security Fire & Casualty, Peerless Insurance, Selective Insurance Group, Summit Insurance (R.I.) and Upland Mutual Insurance. InsurBanc, a federal thrift bank created by the Big "I," is a Trusted Choice® strategic partner.
The Trusted Choice® brand is promoted through a combination of national, state-level and local-agency advertising, promotional and marketing activities; insurance company ingredient branding; public relations campaigns; and Internet communications. All media direct consumers to www.TrustedChoice.com where they find the Trusted Choice® Agency Locator and helpful information on relevant insurance topics.
Trusted Choice® is the consumer marketing identity for more than 6,100 independent insurance agencies and brokerage firms and their branch locations. These insurance and financial services firms offer individual and business consumers a choice of insurance companies, customization of policy coverage and advocacy support. Web address: www.TrustedChoice.com.
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