MassMutual Revamps Brand with New Website, Ad Campaign
May 18, 2017 by Warren S. Hersch
MassMutual is sporting a new look.
Celebrating its 166th anniversary, the Springfield, Mass.-based mutual insurer has unveiled a new brand that aims to highlight a core mission of the company. To wit: Helping people to realize their financial goals and aspirations through mutual assistance and the family, business and community ties on which they depend.
The rollout is being heralded through multiple channels, including a multimedia advertising campaign, new logo, the insurer’s 9,500 member-strong financial advisor network, plus a redesigned website. The web portal boasts an online life insurance calculator, video content and streamlined access to product information.
“Since 1851, MassMutual has been guided by our founding principle—we are people coming together to look out for one another,” says Gareth Ross, MassMutual chief digital and customer experience officer. “We know people are inherently reliant on one another, whether that’s at home, in the workplace or in the community. Our new positioning celebrates these relationships, underscoring that when we depend on each other, we are not only more secure — but life is also happier and more fulfilling.”
Buttressing the mutual reliance theme, MassMutual points to a May 2016 report from the Pew Research Center, which observes that adults between the ages of 18 and 34 are “more likely” to be living with parents than they are a with a spouse or significant other. For many, finances and the cost of living are contributing factors, but the research also observes that young millennials often delay getting “romantically involved” and settling down.
For boomer-age parents, the financial challenge of providing for adult children is compounded when they also have to care for their own aging parents. These are seniors in their 70s and 80s, many of whom require, but can ill-afford absent financial help from their children, long-term care or assisted living arrangements. Hence a popular moniker for the boomers: the sandwich generation.
While these trends played into MassMutual’s “brand refresh” (the last one debuted in 2007), another factor guided the revamp: the need to better identify “attributes that distinguish” the insurer from the competition. Jennifer Halloran, MassMutual head of Brand and Advertising, acknowledged as much in the company’s press release.
MassMutual is hardly alone in tapping into the interconnectedness theme. Indeed, other major insurers have long made promotion of family and community relationships a core part of the marketing outreach.
Case in point: Northwestern Mutual, which in recent months has advertised initiatives that highlight its community focus. These include Milwaukee-awards honoring the carrier’s commitment to children; a partnership with Notre Dame School of Milwaukee to introduce middle school girls to careers in science, technology, engineering and math; and (through the Northwestern Mutual Foundation) awarding nearly $1 million in grants to non-profits dedicated to improving Milwaukee-area neighborhoods.
Thrivent Financial, one of the industry’s many fraternal benefit societies (organizations established for the express purpose of providing mutual aid, including insurance products) has been serving the Lutheran community (and since, June of 2013, non-Lutheran Christians) through a range of community initiatives. According to the organization’s 2016 annual report, the insurer’s 76,000-member-strong “Thrivent Action Teams” supported causes and built, repaired or funded nearly 1,000 Habitat for Humanity homes. Through Thrivent Choice, Thrivent members also contributed $49 million to various charities.
Whether MassMutual intends to emulate such initiatives in size and scope with a view to enhancing its new brand remains to be seen. For now, the insurer is pulling out all the stops to get the word out — through TV, radio, print ads, social media and other channels. So, don’t be surprised if you if start seeing the company’s new logo (a “dynamic blue” with “symbolic dots” representing community) soon plastered all over town.
