Mutual of Omaha Ensures Rebranding With $18M Policyholder Endeavor

Disability insurance, life insurance and real estate planning are the topics at hand for Mutual of Omaha's $18 million 2003 advertising efforts.

The company, perhaps best known for Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom TV show, is propagating its "Begin today" campaign, which encourages people to immediately address insurance and financial needs.

The effort consists of five spots rotated during the year. Three new spots, via Campbell Mithun, Chicago, follow the campaign's existing formula in which real policyholders' stories are dramatized using "authentic optimism." An estate-planning spot is about a woman who owns a cranberry bog. The disability ad shows a construction worker injured on the job who would have lost his house had his wife not made him buy insurance. The life insurance spot follows a terminally ill husband who can pay off his house, set up a trust fund for his kids and take a trip. The other spots focus on financial planning and long-term care.

"This is phase two of the revitalization of our brand," said John Hildenbiddle, svp-brand management, of the campaign that launched in September 2001, its first in 13 years. "The tagline [addresses] a major stumbling block in insurance and financial services: procrastination."

The media buy was also made with the "Begin today" tag in mind. New spots will break between 11:30 p.m. and 12:30 a.m. ET on Dick Clark's Rockin' New Year's Eve. Extensive buys were made on the Today Show and the Weather Channel. Ads will also run on Animal Planet, BBC America, Discovery Channel, Learning Channel, Travel Channel and some network TV.

In addition, the company will sponsor six new Wild Kingdom programs on Animal Planet over the next three years, will have on-court signage for 33 teams during NCAA March Madness and is a sponsor of USA Swimming.

Mutual spent $22.7 million on media through August 2002 and $8.6 million in 2001, per CMR.