Insurance companies appear to be taking a page from the food marketers’ handbook. A recent report in Youth Markets Alert describes how insurance companies are expanding their efforts to reach the youngest consumers: kids and teens.  One company, American Family Insurance, is sponsoring the “Clifford the Big Red Dog Be Big” campaign while State Farm has underwritten the Nickelodeon’s “Go Diego, Go Live! Tour.”

These investments are all about educating young consumers on the value of insurance while influencing them with brand messages.  According to Carole Walker of the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, the teen demographic is very important to auto insurance firms. At the time when many teens begin to drive, families may start looking around for a  new carrier. Cost is often a motivating factor as  a teen driver can add 50% to auto premiums. “Teens really trigger shopping among parents,” says Walker.

Recognizing the influence that teens and younger children may have on the parental decision-making process, insurance carriers are putting more money and effort in youth-specific marketing programs. These include:

• 2010 Aflac All-American High School Baseball Classic – sponsorship includes signage and uniforms.
• TV ads promoting a partnership between Geico and Disney is tied to the animated film The Princess and the Frog.
• Kids 15 and under, of South Asian descent, can compete for a $5,000 scholarship in the 2010 MetLife South Asian Spelling Bee.
• Smoke Detectives is State Farm’s game micro-site targeting younger consumers while educating them on the topic of fire safety.

Many of these programs are examples of creative marketing solutions applied to the continuing challenge of getting consumer attention. As new technology becomes available, marketers can develop and deploy new campaigns to effectively promote their brands.

[Source: Insurance Companies Use Education, Mascots, And Live Events To Reach Youth At Every Life Stage. Youth Market Alert. EPMCOM.com. March 2010]

As part of a general trend in new fiscal conservatism, consumers are paying more attention to smaller community banks and engaging with independent advisors to obtain guidance. This trend has come about as consumers seek more control over their financial destiny and hesitate to work with banks or other financial companies that have been deemed ‘too big to fail.’  The most recent Charles Schwab’s Independent Advisor Outlook Study offers a portrait of consumer sentiment and upcoming investment advisor strategies.

In general, independent advisors are recommending that consumers save up to 9% of their income. This strategy will help them achieve their stated goals of:

• Saving money 59%
• Paying down debt 62%

In addition, consumers are seeking specific advice on the following topics:

• Financial planning 56%
• Tax planning/accounting services 38%
• Education on investments/financial matters 38%

Independent advisors believe the following sectors will drive growth in the next 6 months:

• Information technology 44%
• Health care 42%
• Energy 37%
• Consumer staples 24%
• Financials 23%

Look for more independent advisors to be marketing services such as financial education and investment opportunities in exchange traded funds (ETFs) that are heavily weighted in growth sectors such as information technology and health care.

[Source: Independent Advisor Outlook Study. Charles Schwab Corporation. 2 March 2010 Web. 9 March 2010.]

If it’s true that, as Jim Mullen said, “[b]rand loyalty is the only sound foundation on which business leaders can build enduring, profitable growth,” then marketers might be having some trouble. Writing for Businessweek, Avi Dan observes that the technological advances in our new media world are generating consumers who are driven to make a purchase primarily on price.  All of the technology has created a “more informed and demanding consumer”. What can a marketer do to preserve brand in this environment?

1. Use technology to get into consumers’ heads and figure out what they’re thinking.
2. Maintain a presence in more than one media form. Consumers are on the Web via their home PC, but they’re also accessing data via iPod apps and mobile phones.
3. Connect with super-influencers who write blogs or have hundreds of Facebook friends.
4. Engage customers in a positive experience instead of trying to sway them with a traditional message.
5. Invest in social ideology.

On this last item, Dan highlights the case of Pepsi which did not advertise in the Super Bowl this year. The company is instead using its Facebook page to solicit consumers to vote for the funding of their favorite social projects. It’s just one more way for marketers to turn the negative tendencies of technology – when it comes to loyalty – into a positive for the brand, the consumer and the social cause.

[Source: Avi, Dan. “It’s Time to Rebuild Brand Loyalty.” Businessweek. 22 Feb 2010. Web. 3.8.2010.]

These days, no detail is being overlooked when it comes to increasing sales. In addition to shifting marketing dollars to social media, companies are also scrutinizing how they appear to consumers. For decades,  this has meant spending money to sponsor organizations and causes that consumers care about. But all that has been changing in the past few years. Large companies are making small grants, sometimes as small as $5,000,  to consumers who apply for help with their own socially responsible projects.

Writing for Advertising Age, Natalie Zmuda and Emily Bryson York catalog the benefits of this new micro-sponsorship trend.

• Consumers become more engaged in the firm’s social media efforts
• Smaller charities receive a financial boost
• The investment can yield free market result data

However, the downside of these programs is that they can be difficult to administer and calculating return on investment can prove challenging.  Other analysts worry that rewarding many micro-sponsorships could dilute brand image. But, in general, studies from research concerns such as Cone indicate increasing numbers of consumers will be swayed to select a brand “associated with a good cause.” Jim Stengel, former Procter & Gamble Co. global marketing officer, indicates the trend is “particularly effective with college students who are idealistic and want to be part of something larger.”

Professor Derek Rucker at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management cautions that the micro-sponsorship trend is growing so quickly that it  there “will be a stigma attached to sitting on the sidelines.” Look for more large marketers to explore investing in micro-sponsorship in 2010.

[Source: Zmuda, Natalie and Emily Bryson York. Cause Effect: Brands Rush to Save World One Deed at a Time. Advertising Age. 1 March 2010. Web. 5 March 2010]