The power nostalgia & music bring to insurance marketing
CSAA’s chief marketing officer discusses the company's new Boys No More campaign and what makes an outstanding marketing program.
Garnering more than 6.5 million YouTube views, CSAA’s 2022 Rickroll marketing campaign was very effective from a business outcome and customer engagement perspective.
According to Linda Goldstein, chief marketing officer for CSAA, the success of that campaign, which featured 1980s pop singer Rick Astley, piled additional pressure on the marketing team when brainstorming for the company’s 2023 promotion.
“How do you follow something like that? What would be a worthy follow-up, so to speak? It was not an easy task,” Goldstein said.
As the CSAA team was developing ideas for the next campaign, it stayed focused on the idea that “Apple doesn’t sell cell phones, Apple sells iPhones,” Goldstein said, explaining the aim should be to inject the company’s brand into the category as opposed to the category being injected into the branding.
“In thinking that though, we started to play with the notion that insurance is a bit ubiquitous. Everyone has a carrier, some have a preferred carrier and not everyone is going to always agree on who is the best,” Goldstein said. “That is kind of like boy bands, and how do you create the ultimate boy band? By taking the best of all the boy band and creating a super boy band.”
She explained this ties back into CSAA in that the company brings together all the “best parts of insurance together under the AAA Insurance brand.”
All of these ideas came to life through the Boys No More campaign, which features the “ultimate boy band” comprised of icons Joey Fatone from *NSYNC, Nick Lachey from 98 Degrees, Joey McIntyre of New Kids On The Block and Wanya Morris of Boyz II Men.
The supergroup shot a video for “Make it Right,” an original song that highlights CSAA’s “commitment to its customers to prevent, prepare for and recover from life’s uncertainties.”
The full “Make it Right” video is available on YouTube.
PropertyCasualty360.com caught up with Goldstein to discuss the Boys No More campaign and what makes for an excellent insurance marketing program.
PC360: What makes nostalgia such a powerful tool for marketers?
Goldstein: I think everybody can place themselves at certain points in their life, whether it’s through music, food or TV shows. It taps into an emotional state, and I think when marketers use nostalgia it helps to enhance the emotion in the message that you’re trying to put forward into the marketplace.
PC360: How difficult is it to balance getting a very tailored marketing message through while also making sure the campaign will stand out in the crowded field of insurance marketing?
Goldstein: Consumers see hundreds of ads a day for insurance companies, so the challenge is how do you break through?
We’ve chosen music as our hook, and believe it helps to differentiate us and tell our message. Others use spokespeople or characters. Some use that and an auditory cue like the Farmer’s jingle.
We’ve chosen music as our way of doing it. We’re trying to think about the different audiences and the different genres of music and how they appeal to a broad spectrum. For us to stand out, we believe music helps us do that since most of the other players don’t really leverage it.
PC360: How can independent agents tap into the excitement around the campaigns that CSAA offers like this year’s Boys No More and last year’s Rickroll campaigns?
Goldstein: We are running it in select markets and if they’re appointed by us, we’re happy to work with them to see how they can leverage it to their advantage.
We’ve really tried to take an approach where we want ads to raise awareness of AAA Insurance so that when an independent agent is presenting our product, the customer is aware of it, interested and engaged with it.
PC360: Insurance isn’t typically seen as a humor-filled subject, but we often see it used in insurance marketing. Why is that, as opposed to more heartfelt campaigns?
Goldstein: I think we see humor because it engages people and makes them smile.
What I find interesting about humor, especially in insurance advertising, is folks can tell you the character, they will tell you the line or the story that was trying to be told, but many times they can’t tell you the carrier. And so it’s going to raise awareness, but it doesn’t always translate to consideration or action.
I think that is a marketing challenge for everyone, us included. How do you make sure that you’re increasing awareness of your brand and increasing consideration for your brand at the same time so that when people have to make a choice as to who they want to engage with to get a quote and buy a policy they choose you.
But people don’t quote a product they don’t know you offer and they can’t buy it without a quote. So that awareness is really important.
PC360: What is the recipe for a standout marketing campaign?
Goldstein: The recipe for a standout marketing campaign is one, I believe, that is grounded in strategy, consumer insights and a compelling message with a call to action. And I think that you need to understand how it ladders up to your brand promise, which has to be part of your strategy.
In my mind, it’s really all about the customer. If you understand where the customer sits and how your strategy plays into all of that, then you’re able to put the customer at the beginning, the middle and end of this process so that you’re able to develop something that will resonate.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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