In the worlds of wholesale insurance and conservative reinsurance, we are not really into gimmicky or flashy marketing campaigns.
But it is interesting to note that even for us, YouTube can work. We may not be on the same level as Old Spice Man – see here:
He has sadly ended his successful YouTube/Twitter campaign.
One REINSURANCE video has shown we can make a difference and here it is:
Called The New Insurance Tax, it is a YouTube video for the Washington-based Coalition for Competitive Insurance Rates shows just how powerful new social media tools can be – but only if you have a good, clear message.
It is no accident that the team behind the video is the crack public relations team at Swiss Re.
At the time of writing this, there had been over 21,600 hits on the video, which shows why non-domestic US reinsurers are not tax-dodging, and how Senator Neal’s bill will push up the price of insurance. It is classic lobbying, done brilliantly.
On top of the 21,600 people who have watch the video , the video has generated a lot of high-level press coverage, from Business Insurance to Reactions, online magazines to blogs such as this one. It has been Tweeted and re-tweeted, emailed from office to office and spread by good old fashioned word of mouth.
These kind of side-effects should be expected in a good campaign. But you have to get your message right in the first place – just look at the terribly poor rebuttal called Close the Insurance Tax Loophole here:
My dad could have done a better job. Or my neighbour’s cat, for that matter. The message from this poor video is DON’T TOUCH SOCIAL MEDIA WITH A BARGEPOLE unless you have:
1. A good communications team
2. A budget
3. A great message.
Mmm. Now I come to think of it, funny how these same rules apply to normal PR an marketing as well…
And just for extras, I love this one – Risk Mitigation for Beginners with Arnie the Armadillo:
Tags: insurance, Old Spice, reinsurance, social media, YouTube
