Liberty Mutual
In 2005, Liberty Mutual was the 9th largest home and auto insurance company in the U.S. Their goal was to move into the top 5. But with policyholders declining and competition increasing, it was a daunting challenge. Our research showed that few people were aware of the company or what it stood for. Allstate had its good hands, Progressive had Flo, Geico had its cavemen; with no definitive stake in the ground, Liberty Mutual was barely a blip on the radar.
The Strategy
We discovered that personal responsibility was a virtue that held enormous meaning to most policyholders, and they felt that it was fading from American society. If we could position Liberty Mutual as a champion of personal responsibility, we believed we’d have a platform that could generate positive feelings about the brand, and put them back on the radar map. This was a radical departure for an insurance company. Instead of talking about insurance, our campaign celebrated how much better life would be if everyone took responsibility for how we live. The initial 60-second TV spot showed the infectious nature of doing the right thing for others.
TV Commercial
The Responsibility Project.
We learned from the feedback from the commercial that people were eager to talk about responsibility. We believed that the more they talked about it, the more they would associate it with the brand. The Responsibility Project became a multi-pronged initiative that expanded on this theme in print and television. It included a dedicated website which housed a dynamic blog as well as a series of short films directed by A-List film directors. Other facets included branded entertainment initiatives with NBC, the Oprah Winfrey Show, and numerous other TV and movie networks and studios.
The Results.
In the first year of the campaign, sales increased by 17% and have continued to increase by an average of 8% each year. The Responsibility Project, while not overtly branded, gave the company an extraordinary boost in awareness. Today, Liberty Mutual is number 5 among all insurance companies, even though it is still massively outspent by its major competitors.
* Ernie Schenck was the Creative Director for Liberty Mutual while at Hill Holiday, Boston. Ernie is part of the Juice team.