LIFE raises awareness about life insurance

by Tonya Garcia, PR Week USA 16-Sep-08, 10:09

ARLINGTON, VA: The Life and Health Insurance Foundation for Education (LIFE) Foundation is commemorating the fifth annual Life Insurance Awareness month with enhanced Web efforts intended to raise awareness about the importance of having ample life insurance coverage.

The LIFE Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to raising awareness and educating the public about the information of life, health, disability, and other insurance. For September, the organization and its partners - over 130 insurance and financial service organizations that fund the group - execute a variety of outreach programs to employers, brokers, as well as consumers. For example, CIGNA has a dedicated multimedia page at www.cigna.com/liam and over 50 New York Life Insurance offices nationwide will host child safety and protection festivals.

“Every year, the campaign expands in different ways and hopefully becomes a bigger deal within the industry,” Jon Dressner, SVP for the LIFE Foundation.

The overall message is to be prepared for the unexpected, he said, citing industry statistics that say 68 million people have no life insurance.

“I've seen too many families suffer financially because they have family members that haven't lived to a rip-old age,” he said.

The organization also filmed its first made-for-Web movie, Excuses, Excuses, which addresses all of the reasons consumers make for not purchasing life insurance, including cost and understanding the policy. Actor Donnie Wahlberg appears in a video message playing on the organization's homepage, providing more star-power than in years past.

“Sometimes you have to challenge some of the communications norms and think maybe there are some light-hearted ways to deliver a very serious message,” Dressner said. “You don't think of life insurance videos tearing up the Internet, but you have to think in these innovative ways.”

A YouTube page was established about a year ago, and a Facebook page complete with video links was created about six months ago.

The organization is also working with Weber Shandwick on media outreach, including to Hispanic, Chinese, and consumer media.