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Matthew Hurn
UWP 1/ Hintze
1566 words
The Purchased Lie
Your opinion can and has been purchased. I could ask you a series of questions on a few
companies you have never used, and I am sure you can at least tell me one “fact” about them
due to their brand image. Brand awareness alone is the reason companies spend billions of
dollars on advertisements. According to eMarketer, a global marketing research company, in
2015 companies spent a projected six-hundred billion dollars on advertising worldwide
(eMarketer). One of the most renowned markets that uses advertising to bolster their brand is
casualty and property insurance companies, who spent six billion dollars on advertisements
in 2013, over one percent of worldwide advertising expenditures (Insurance Journal). These
commercials very rarely talk about rates, but rather choose funny sketches to create a brand.
Nationwide Insurance currently spends fifth most on advertising, most notably hiring Peyton
Manning to be their spokesman, but what they do outside the realm of advertising is what
makes their strategy so interesting (Insurance Journal). Over the past few years, Nationwide
has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on advertisements, websites, and hospitals, all
geared towards selling Nationwide’s brand, and the idea that they are a company that deeply
cares for customers. While others may spend more money on TV slots or native advertising,
Nationwide’s advertising strategy is to go into the community, buy a children’s hospital,
create a website to help families, and bombard their audience with their jingle in order to
create the positive brand image that is needed to sell insurance.
In the global market, having a strong brand is not only lucrative, but a necessity. Naomi
Klein, an anti-consumerist activist, argues in her book No Logo that, “corporations may
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manufacture a product, but what consumers buy are brands” (Klein 29). Because of this
pressure from consumers, companies must produce a brand that is meaningful and
memorable in order to survive. Currently, companies rarely talk about the product in
commercials, but instead work to create a positive image for their brand by using humor,
slogan, or a famous persona. The hope is when a consumer is faced with a decision on what
to purchase, they will fall back to which brand has given them a positive experience in the
past, and not on which product is cheapest or even the best. At the end of the day, an
advertisement is successful if it creates brand recognition and brand trust causing a consumer
to have a positive experience without ever using the product. Insurance companies are kings
of this strategy, as every year they work to outspend, and out-brand their competitors.
Over the past few years, casualty and property insurance companies have been in an allout advertising war in order to create the best brand image allowing them to sell the most
insurance. This insurance war illustrates common tactics used by all insurance companies
and how those methods create a positive brand image. For example, most of the large
insurance companies have nearly identical jingles that work to associate positive words with
a brand: Allstate harps on their dependability, Statefarm on their neighborly behavior, and
Nationwide on caring for clients. All of these slogans work towards creating a brand image
that can be trusted, and portrays the company as a group that looks out for clients as friends.
Furthermore, the top five insurance companies all have a face to represent their brand. These
spokespeople are all created with one goal in mind, to create trust with the brand, and these
spokespeople don’t come cheap. According to celebritynetworth.com the actress who plays
Flo, from Progressive, has a net worth of five million, and Mayhem, from Allstate, has a net
worth of 4.5 million (Lamare). These exorbitant wages have been one of the largest
contributors to the heavy cost of the insurance wars, but many companies believe that the
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brand image these spokespeople create is well worth the money. The big insurance
companies continue to spend millions of dollars to constantly promote a slogan and apply a
face to their brand because this helps ensure consumer trust; however, some insurance
companies, most notably Nationwide Insurance, are attempting new strategies in order to
create brand trust.
While there have been commonalities among insurance advertising tactics, Nationwide
Insurance has realized that the most effective way to create a brand image is to act as a
member of the community. According to the timeline on the Nationwide’s website, in 2006
Nationwide insurance spent 50 million dollars to create Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and
in 2014 Nationwide founded makesafehappen.com a website geared towards helping protect
accidents at home (Timeline). While both these sources work towards wonderful things, they
were created with one goal in mind: to win the advertising war by associating Nationwide’s
brand with places that cared for families. If Nationwide truly did these acts philanthropically,
then they would expect nothing in return; however, Nationwide’s brand is now associated
with a hospital and is placed all over the website giving Nationwide insurance a connection
to locations that care for families. The website and hospital are nationwide advertisements,
because they tie Nationwide insurance into places that are able to give a positive experience
for thousands of people. Nationwide’s goal through all their advertisements is to create a
brand image that portrays them as a caring friend that will always be at your side.
Nationwide’s “make safe happen” commercial further illustrates Nationwide’s
marketing strategy. This commercial, which aired during the 2015 Superbowl, shows a boy
explaining how he could not experience a few of life’s peaks because he died in an accident.
At the end of the commercial a woman’s voice softly explains, “At Nationwide, we believe
in protecting what matters most, your children” (Make Safe Happen). The end of the
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commercial displays a link to makesafehappen.com, a website funded by Nationwide
Insurance. If this commercial intended to sell insurance outright, it would talk about its rates
or compare their coverage to their competitors. Instead, this commercial is focusing on
nationwide as a brand, one that cares for its clients much in a way that a friend would. This
ad, however, faced a fair deal of criticism for how this commercial could affect Nationwide’s
brand. Neeru Paharia, a professor of marketing for Georgetown University, told USA today
that, “from a brand perspective, Nationwide could be thought of negatively for airing an ad
that isn't happy or funny,” but later went on to argue that this advertisement definitely would
be more effective for families with children (Durando). While this advertisement does not
directly sell insurance, it does show the powerful rhetoric that Nationwide attempts to use in
order to create their image. This pathos heavy commercial would have profound effect on
families with young children, especially due to the strong imagery, and would coerce many
families into checking out makesafehappen.com. At the end of the day, Nationwide may
have been the loser because many other demographics would perceive this ad to be negative
and associate that image with their brand, but I’m sure they would argue otherwise, saying
their only purpose for the commercial was family safety.
Along with the “Make Safe Happen” commercial, The Nationwide slogan and the
“About Us” statement on Nationwide website’s homepage speaks volumes about what
Nationwide Insurance is trying to present to their potential customers in advertisements.
Nationwide’s official slogan and jingle is “Nationwide is on your side,” one that I’m sure
almost every reader can hum to themselves as they read. That along with the “Customer
Advocacy” section of the “About Us” page which reads, “Nationwide stands above our
competition for many reasons, but we're especially proud of our customer experience. We’re
there for you when something happens, whether it's a simple fender-bender or a major loss
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due to a powerful storm” shows how Nationwide’s brand attempts to create an image of
reliability and friendliness in order to sell their insurance (Nationwide). Nationwide
Insurance wants to appear as part of the family, so when people are searching for insurance
they disregard price altogether and focus on the perceived value of the product being
purchased. This is truly where Nationwide differs from the competition. They are able to
create a brand that tries to become a trusted member in each community coercing people into
buying Nationwide Insurance. Nationwide hospital will cure your child,
makesafehappen.com will save your child’s life, all because Nationwide wants to create an
image that shows the world that they do not see clients as money cows, but truly care.
While their competitors may outspend Nationwide on premium tv advertising,
Nationwide is able to advertise to families in creative new ways in order to sell their brand
image that portrays them as a caring friend who will be their when people need it most.
While some families may have frowned upon it, Makesafehappen.com does what it’s meant
to do, give some helpful advice, show the Nationwide logo in a positive light, and ultimately
direct parents to nationwide.com. While their motives are to be left in question, Nationwide
gave millions of dollars to a children’s hospital which changed its name to give Nationwide
more positive brand recognition to back up their slogan. Finally, the website places the
Nationwide logo everywhere, almost in way to brainwash potential clients into believing that
Nationwide will always be there for them. While this advertising war may seem harmless,
simply clogging the airwaves with mindless commercials, insurance companies are now
spending six percent of all revenue to maintain their brand image, forcing them to raise rates
each year. Would a company that truly cared about their clients spend such irresponsible
amounts of money for that image, or would that image come naturally? So maybe at the end
of the day, the most important opinion you should have is the one that isn’t purchased with
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the six billion dollars a year, but instead look behind the act to the company’s actions and to
their motivations.
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References
“Advertisers Will Spend Nearly $600 Billion Worldwide in 2015.” eMarketer. eMarketer. 10
December 2014. Web. 23 February 2016.
“Progressive Boosts Ad Spending but GEICO Still #1: SNL.” SNL. Insurance Journal. 3 July
2014. Web. 23 February 2016.
Klein, Naomi. No Logo. Great Britain: Flamingo, 2000. Print
Lamare, Ann. “These Seven Commercial Actors Make Mind-Blowing Amounts of Money.”
Celebrity Net Worth. 7 July 2015. Web. 23 February 2016
“Make Safe Happen.” Nationwide Insurance. Commercial. 2 February 2015. Web
“Timeline.” Our Role. Make safe happen. Web. 23 February 2016
“Nationwide’s Office of Customer Advocacy.” Customer Advocacy. About Us. Web 23
February 2016