IIABA Declares Ad Campaign Successful

"With most new brands, consumer awareness is measured in increments of a percent–and usually after much longer pilot periods, at least 12-to-16 weeks," said Ronald A. Smith, chairman of the IIABA Communications/Branding Task Force, which oversees Trusted Choice.

"Four percent awareness after only a month-long campaign demonstrates that we effectively communicated the value of independent agents in our commercials," he said. "It also shows that success can be replicated nationally with additional advertising, company ingredient branding, and agent tie-ins at the local level."

Trusted Choice is the new marketing brand created by IIABA and its company partners. IIABA said the goal is to increase consumer awareness of the benefits independent agents offer–choice, customization and advocacy.

Three spots introducing the brand debuted in Louisville, Ky. and Seattle-Tacoma from Feb. 25 through March 24. Surveys of 635 consumers in both markets were conducted before the ads ran and were repeated following the campaign.

In addition to consumer awareness, the pilot market research also measured current insurance usage, propensity to buy from the three distribution channels (independent agents, captive agents and direct market) and perceptions about independent agents.

IIABA said Trusted Choice did not anticipate significant changes in these categories, but looked to establish benchmarks that can be used to measure the long-term success of the brand. Specifically, those findings included the following:

? Independent agent usage in the two pilot markets tracks closely to the national estimates. It did not change significantly after the Trusted Choice pilot campaign since only a small percentage of the consumers surveyed had immediate insurance needs to address. However, Trusted Choice is well positioned to assist agents in increasing their market share, IIABA said.

? Twenty-three percent of captive-agent customers and 27 percent of direct-writer customers are likely to consider using an independent agent after seeing the ads.

Trusted Choice is a new brand, so consumers need to be educated about its "Pledge of Performance," which differentiates Trusted Choice agencies in the marketplace. The Trusted Choice Pledge of Performance enumerates the benefits consumers consider critically important?advocacy, choice and customization?all of which consumers can obtain through a Trusted Choice agency, IIABA said.

? Perceptions about independent agents generally are positive, scoring highest in three attribute areas–customization of policies, choosing the best policy, and saving money for the customer. These qualities are among those most important to insurance consumers, which bodes well for independent agents and Trusted Choice, IIABA said.

Next year the Trusted Choice brand will be promoted nationally through a combination of advertising, company ingredient branding, public relations, agency marketing and Internet communications, according to IIABA.

The organization said the media effort will direct consumers to www.TrustedChoice.com, where they will find a cutting-edge agency locator and up-to-date consumer information on numerous insurance topics.

IIABA said Trusted Choice is the consumer marketing identity for nearly 2,400 participating independent insurance agencies and brokerages and their branches.