Pizza, basketball and insurance: Hartford's new advertising campaign marks the comeback of the stag and a foray into a co-promotion with Kraft Foods to spread the word of the insurer's financial-services brand.

Pizza, college basketball and its iconic stag are at the heart of Hartford Financial's new "The Stag Returns" advertising campaign. The commercials featuring a computer-generated stag debuted during the NCAA basketball tournament.

Linking its new campaign with college basketball and food giant Kraft Foods is part of the insurer's "multipronged" marketing effort, said Ann Glover, Hartford's senior vice president and chief marketing officer. "The Stag Returns" is the first time Hartford has joined forces with a package goods provider. Hartford's new marketing strategy is quite different from its competitors' campaigns. American International Group uses its logo as the centerpiece of its advertising, and MetLife is reaching out to potential customers with its life events campaign, "Have You Met Life Today?" AIG Life Group is the largest U.S. life insurance company based on admitted assets, MetLife is No. 2 and Hartford, No. 4, based on A.M. Best data.

NCAA Partnership

Hartford chose to be a corporate sponsor of the NCAA tournament because college basketball is popular with baby boomers and affluent customers--its target demographic audience. "Our corporate values are similar to the NCAA: teamwork, commitment to education, dedication and a winning spirit," Glover said. The insurer began its association with the NCAA as a corporate partner in 2004.

To leverage the NCAA partnership, Hartford:

* Advertised during the NCAA tournament. Hartford launched two commercials featuring the return of the stag. "We'll be reaching customers as they are watching something they are interested in," Glover said. The insurer ran 21 spots during the tournament, which generated nearly 200 impressions and produced an overall increase in ratings of 11.2% from last year.

* Developed public relations programs. Recognizing the need to educate college athletes about their financial future, Hartford developed the "Playbook for Life" program carried out by "Team Hartford," a group of former NCAA student-athletes who successfully moved on to non-athletic professional careers. Allen Pinkett, former football player for the University of Notre Dame and the Houston Oilers and currently a sales representative with Hartford's individual life division, is the team captain. Former co-captain of the Duke University Blue Devils, Brian Davis, is joining Hartford representatives touring college campuses promoting the "Playbook" program.

Reaching Investors At the Grocery Store

The Hartford-Kraft Foods marketing idea was developed by both companies' marketing teams to offer a college savings promotion during March Madness using Kraft food products, such as DiGiorno Pizza, as the vehicle. Kraft has road tested ideas on how to get consumer interest in grocery stores and how to tap into a mother's main goals: feeding and educating her children. "Those ideas were the genesis of the program. We are the prize," Glover said. DiGiorno Pizza boxes featured the "Taste the Madness" promotion, offering chances to win 31 $10,000 college scholarships, in the form of a 529 college plan, offered by Hartford.

The promotion appeared in more than 30,000 grocery stores and mass merchants nationwide and is featured on Kraft's Web site. In addition to the sweepstakes, 1.3 million party planners, featuring recipes from Kraft and college savings tips from Hartford, were available at "Taste the Madness" displays in the retail locations. Hartford also offers a college planning calculator on Kraft's Web site.

David M. Lafrennie, assistant vice president, external communications, for Hartford, said the flurry of marketing materials associated with the promotion turned heads at the insurer. "We were carrying around pizza boxes and end aisle displays. It was a unique sight never seen before [at Hartford]." The stakes are high: "We could net millions of impressions in an alternative venue," Lafrennie said.

The Stag's Return

The Hartford stag was reincarnated by Rhythm & Hues, a special effects company associated with films such as Stuart Little and The Cat in the Hat. The 123-year-old brand icon hadn't appeared in Hartford's television commercials since the 1970s. It was in hiatus because it was difficult to work a real stag into the investment-oriented situations used to promote Hartford's financial services message, Glover said. Rhythm & Hues did such a good job, according to Michael Johnson, vice president of advertising, he couldn't differentiate the real stag from the computer-generated one.

During his first appearance, the stag makes his way though a trophy-lined corridor onto the basketball court where legendary basketball coach John Wooden led teams to an unmatched record of 10 NCAA men's basketball championships. Throughout the spot, Coach Wooden is overheard offering comments on winning with integrity.

In the second commercial, the stag promotes Hartford's products by emerging on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. In the midst of buying and selling, traders immediately pause at the sight. The commercial was developed by Campbell Mithun, Minneapolis.

The new spots ran on CBS throughout the NCAA tournament and in coming months will appear during professional golf and NCAA football, as well as on major cable and news networks including CNN, FOX News and Bravo.

Going forward, Hartford sees the many facets of the campaign continuing and even growing. "The 'Playbook for Life' tour is just beginning. We will continue the tour into the college football season. This is just year one of a great program to benefit college athletes," Lafrennie said.

Key Points

* The co-promotion with Kraft Foods is the first time Hartford worked with a food company.

* The Hartford stag's return is the linchpin of its new campaign.

* Three members of Hartford's advertising team come from the beverage and toy industries.

Top 5 U.S. Life Insurers'
Total Advertising--2004*

U.S. life insurers spent most of their
advertising dollars on network television,
magazines and newspaper
advertising.

($ Thousands)

Company                               Total

American Intl. Group Inc.         $58,510.7
Hartford Fin. Svc. Group Inc.      30,086.6
Prudential Financial Inc.          55,838.4
Metropolitan Life Ins Co.          41,286.4
Aegon NV                            1,856.9

* Includes spending on television (network, spot,
SLN, cable, syndication); magazines (general
consumer, Sunday, local, Hispanic and business-to-business);
newspapers (national, local,
Hispanic); radio (network, national spot and
local); outdoor and Internet advertising.

Source: TNS Media Intelligence

Learn More

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc.

A.M. Best Company # 18217 (Hartford Insurance Pool)

Distribution: Independent agents

For ratings and other financial strength information about this company, visit wwv.ambest.com.

RELATED ARTICLE: The outsiders.

It's not a coincidence Hartford Financial's new campaign includes a partnership with the NCAA and a co-promotion with Kraft Foods. Three of its top marketing positions are filled by people from the food and toy industries, where co-branding efforts abound. Ann Glover, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Hartford, hails from Pepsi; Michael Johnson, vice president of advertising, was formerly with Miller Brewing, and David M. Lafrennie, assistant vice president, external communications, was head of public relations for toymaker Lego.

All three bring a significant marketing development strategy to the insurance industry: the ability to view the industry from the outside in. "A big advantage we bring to the corporation is we have an outside-in view starting with the consumer needs," Glover said. Both Glover and Johnson recognize that before products get to the consumer, they must pass through a multi-tiered distribution system. "If it's not on the truck, it's not being sold. If it's not in [an agent's] consultations, it's not being sold," Johnson said.

That outside-in strategy helped Hartford understand the power of its heritage and the credibility of the stag. Hartford identified a need for financial counseling for athletes and developed the "Playbook for Life." Mothers' interest in their children's education sealed the deal with Kraft and the scholarship sweepstakes. The marketing campaign ties Hartford's name with investments.

The outside-in approach also means keeping communications open with top executives. "It's important that we challenge the organization about what's special, what's better, what's different about our products. We have to keep that top of mind when working with business partners to develop new ideas," Glover said.