OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The vice president of marketing for Sun Life Financial U.S. is interviewed in the latest edition of the Insurance Marketing & Advertising Summit podcast. Ed Milano is also a speaker at A.M. Best Co.’s 2013 Insurance Marketing & Advertising Summit (IMAS), set for November 14 in Jersey City.
To hear the full interview, visit www.ambest.com/v.asp?v=imas1304. To learn more about IMAS and to register for the conference, visit www.bestreview.com/imas.
Sun Life Financial U.S. takes a multi-prong approach when it comes to marketing itself to customers across the country, reaching out to its brokers with a mix of traditional, digital and social media.
“Our traditional outreach is both through general media and in person,” Milano said. “This is very much an in-person business, especially because Sun Life in the U.S. is all group insurance. When it comes to Sun Life’s marketing approach, our end goal remains consistent – to connect on a personal level with our target audiences, whether that is employers, brokers or our own employees. For example, when working with our brokers, we try to rise above the transactional requirements by truly serving as personal consultants to them, which ultimately helps them to better advise their clients.”
Milano also discusses how social media is growing for the company, especially since its brokers are not inherently a socially active population. “We are much better right now at activating social networks with our end consumer. Our following on Facebook is growing and we have a lot of traditional social things moving. But we are definitely challenged to figure out how to activate social networks in the B-2-B realm.”
Sponsorships are another central part of Sun Life’s traditional branding strategy. An official team sponsor of the Boston Celtics since the 2010-11 season, Sun Life recently netted the naming rights to the Celtics exclusive Courtside Club. Earlier this year, it entered into a multiyear partnership with the National Basketball Association and the NBA Development League and created a series of Chalk Talks across the country to allow brokers and employees to participate in exclusive Q&A sessions with NBA legends.
“We are not just your typical banner sponsor or advertiser. We do work with NBA Legends and Celtics Legends, running skills clinics for kids in the neighborhoods of the teams that play in the different NBA cities. That gives us a chance to both bond with the teams and share in a richer level of image building rather than if we were just another tire, car or shaving cream ad out there running in a game.
“It’s a lot more work. Pulling off an event in which you have legendary athletes, insurance brokers who are not your employees, and your own representatives and often your own executives joining to represent the company – pulling that all off in far-flung cities on a regular basis takes a ton of work but also is incredibly rewarding. We find that a broker who goes through the process of doing some form of community outreach with us is bonded to us for life…and it’s worth it.”
The Insurance Marketing & Advertising Summit is a one-day conference focused on the property/casualty, life, health and reinsurance industries. It gathers marketers, communicators, product experts and insurance strategists for a day focused on cutting-edge communication, media, product development and distribution best practices.
Admission is $199 and includes conference materials, continental breakfast, lunch and a networking social to conclude the event. Registration and details are available at www.bestreview.com/imas.
The January 2014 issue of Best’s Review magazine will feature full coverage of this year’s conference. To learn more about Best’s Review and to subscribe, visit www.ambest.com/sales/bestsreview.
A.M. Best Company is the world’s oldest and most authoritative insurance rating and information source. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.
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