Insurers go for gold--and green--with ad spots during Olympics. (Property/Casualty).

The 2002 Olympic Winter Games scored higher in the race for insurers' advertising dollars this year than Super Bowl XXXVI.

In an informal poll of 13 of the largest U.S. insurers, five said they advertised or sponsored the Olympics, while Kemper took a limited advertising presence in the Super Bowl. The largest property/casualty insurer, State Farm, passed on both venues, as did MetLife Inc., one of the largest life/health insurers.

The consensus among the insurers polled--State Farm, Kemper and Mutual of Omaha among them--was that the $2 million per 30-second television spot on the Feb. 3 Super Bowl was too expensive for their television commercial budgets, which range from $16 million to $115 million. The largest spender on television advertising, Geico, which spent more than $115 million last year, would not comment on its marketing strategy.

"The Super Bowl is very expensive, and it's difficult to quantify the impact on our customer base. And because we're a mutual company, we're hesitant to spend that kind of money," said Zoe Younker, a State Farm spokeswoman. Instead, insurers such as Aflac, John Hancock, Allstate, Mutual of Omaha and the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association had a marketing presence at the Olympic Games, which ended Feb. 24.

Insurers must consider several issues before plunking down a huge portion of their ad budgets on these high-profile events, said Kimberly Paterson, president of Creative Insurance Marketing Co. Insurers should consider whether they are attracting the appropriate audience for their overall marketing strategy For example, Frito-Lay was a consistent advertiser during the Super Bowl, touting its Doritos product. Since pinpointing teens as its target audience, Frito-Lay has switched the majority of advertising to the Internet, Paterson said. Insurers also must take into consideration the ad's message, what it will contain and how it will be perceived.

Kemper took a different route by placing its ad in the millions of printed programs that were distributed during and after the Super Bowl. Because the cost of a 30-second ad was "prohibitive," the print advertisement allowed the 24th-largest property/casualty company in the United States to have a presence at the marquis event, said Joel Borgardt, vice president of Kemper's corporate marketing.

Insurers should have been looking to advertise during the Super Bowl, because it's a single event that is watched for its commercials, Paterson said. It's also a year for financial-services companies to shine, since a recent survey reports 16% of parents are revising or thinking of revising their wills in light of the events of Sept. 11. On the other hand, since everyone knows the price tag of Super Bowl commercials, spending $2 million can send a wrong message to stockholders and board members, in light of the depressed economy and job layoffs, Paterson said.

The close scheduling of the two premier sporting events was one of the reasons for the Super Bowl's sagging advertising sales this year. Fox Sports, which aired the football classic, reduced the price of 30-second spots to $2 million from $2.1 million and was selling advertising time on two fewer hours of programming than CBS did in 2001. In fact, according to various press reports, investment bank analyst Spencer Wang released a controversial report saying Fox would lose $15 million to $20 million on the event because of competition from the Olympics, which charged $500,000 to $600,000 for a 30-second advertising spot.

Paterson said the Olympics was a good choice for advertising this year because of its U.S. presence and no tape delays, and because it was a great way to tie into the strong feelings of nationalism the country is experiencing right now. This is reflected in the Olympic sponsorship numbers, which were up in relation to the past two Olympics. Insurers John Hancock, BlueCross BlueShield and Allstate, along with 29 other corporations, spent $869 million in sponsorships of this year's Games, compared with $488 million during the Atlanta Games.

Allstate made a significant investment in its sponsorship of the Olympics this year, choosing the event to showcase its new "The Right Hands Make All the Difference" ad campaign, said Rob Apatoff, a senior vice president with Allstate.

Mutual of Omaha made its first Olympics appearance this year, showing off a $30 million ad campaign it launched in August. John Hildenbiddle, senior vice president of brand management and public relations, said the Olympics' stature and competitive spirit meshed well with the company's first new ad campaign in 10 years.

The Aflac duck also made an appearance during the Olympics in 12 30-second spots, said Mitzi Clay, a company spokeswoman.

Advertising Spending

Berkshire Hathaway's Geico Auto spent the most on TV ads during the
first three quarters of 2001.

($ Millions)

                  January 2001-
Company          September 2001

Geico                    $115.0
Progressive                71.4

State Farm                 36.5
Aflac                      23.8

Progressive.com            22.0

Source: Competitive Media Reporting and Publishers Information Bureau.