Wednesday, September 10, 2008

News You Can Use: Guardian looks for benefits bounce from Mia Hamm

The carrier's got a new marketing video featuring Mia Hamm. It seems to do a pretty good job broadly outlining the value of employee benefits, stressing the fact that workers need to slow down and take a little time when they're considering their options. I heard about this celebrity pairing just before I learned Seinfeld's J. Peterman himself is going to be at our show in Washington D.C. (just across the river in Md. actually) later this month. He's working with HM Insurance Group. I'm all for the employee benefits profession raising its marketing game, but are celebrity ads and other such efforts the way to go? Follow the links, taking a look at the video and O'Hurley's site for HM and then come back here and share your thoughts.

1 comment:

Kelley said...

I think this is an excellent move on Guardian's part. Like it or not, we live in a culture obsessed with celebrity. If Coke, Nintendo and prescription drug companies can hire celebrity spokespeople to spur sales, I see nothing wrong with benefits providers doing it -- especially given that the benefits decisions consumers make are much more serious than selecting a soft drink or video game. If putting Mia Hamm's face on the issue can encourage employees to devote more time and consideration to their benefits elections (now somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 minutes, research shows), I say it's all good things. (Full disclosure: I am a big fan of Mia Hamm; my daughter is named for her.) :)