COLUMBUS, Ga., April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aflac, a
leader in supplemental insurance sales at U.S.
worksites, today announced its new, people-centric "Not Alone"
marketing campaign. Developed in partnership with Dagger, Aflac's
new advertising agency of record, the campaign reflects the
insurer's commitment to being there for consumers when help is
needed most. The new campaign focuses on the wide range of emotions
Americans experience when they are hit with unexpected
health care costs, emphasizing that Aflac helps pay out-of-pocket
expenses health insurance does not cover and giving
consumers more control over what otherwise might be uncontrollable
situations.
The "Not Alone" campaign's first commercial launches
between 8 and 11:30 p.m. EDT tonight
on ABC and ESPN during the NFL Draft. Titled "Gratitude," it
illustrates Americans' mounting anxiety as out-of-pocket costs
balloon from small, manageable amounts to larger expenses they do
not have the savings to cover. The commercial then cuts to scenes
of excitement and relief as people receive benefits payments from
Aflac. To complement the launch, ESPN will feature clips of top
college football drafts on its Instagram story, along with Aflac
branding and a "swipe up" invitation for viewers to watch the new
spot. Outside of the NFL Draft, viewers can see the commercial
across networks and streaming platforms such as NBC, Fox, Bravo and
Hulu.
Link to "Gratitude" commercial
here.
A second commercial, debuting in June 2020, shows Americans
from all walks of life sharing common concerns about unexpected
medical bills, health-related travel expenses, and large bills from
hospitals and treatment specialists. Their worries are quickly
relieved as benefits payments are delivered by the Aflac Duck.
"The 'Not Alone' campaign combines logic and emotion in ways
that bring people together, uniting them through shared
experiences, thoughts and behaviors," said Valencia Mitchell, Aflac vice president of Brand
Strategy, Insights and Advertising. "That is especially important
today, as Americans adapt to new realities caused by COVID-19,
which is a reminder that health events can occur with or without
warning.
"The campaign emphasizes that consumers who are hit with
out-of-pocket medical bills experience fear, panic and – if they do
not have the funds on hand to cover health care costs – even
embarrassment. Worse, they may feel alone because they
do not realize people throughout the country share their
emotions and experiences. Although this campaign was in
development long before the current pandemic began, it accentuates
our commitment to customers that they are not alone and we will
navigate this 'new normal' together."
The campaign comes as Aflac enters the second year of a
five-year advertising and marketing plan. In 2019, the insurer
launched the effort with "Aflac Isn't" messaging, which sought to
eliminate misconceptions about its products and how they are used.
As it embarks on its second-year goals, Aflac is working to
increase consumer understanding of what "Aflac Is." Aflac and
Dagger will team to deliver on- and off-air content that will live
across multiple platforms, working with Spark Foundry on media
placements. In addition to airing the new commercials with cable
partners and on major television networks, Aflac will amplify the
"Not Alone" message in custom Spotify and Pandora ads as well as
via host reads throughout iHeartRadio's "Stuff You Should Know"
podcast, online videos and social media.
"We are ecstatic to extend our relationship with Aflac, a
company that has truly driven to adopt a modern media mentality and
generate new ways to capture consumer attention. We're especially
eager to help facilitate Aflac's offerings across broadcast
platforms while continuing to leverage a historic piece of brand
iconography in the Aflac Duck," said Mike
Popowski, chief executive officer of Dagger.
Mitchell said Aflac is excited to have Dagger on board as its
advertising agency of record, noting that the partnership is a
natural progression based on Dagger's social media work for the
company, as well as Dagger's creative, thoughtful approach to
digital storytelling that resonates with the Aflac audience.
"Dagger has been one of our strategic partners since 2016 and
became our social agency of record in 2018," she said. "They have
delivered for us with disruptive strategies, a strong understanding
of Aflac's brand challenge and standout content. Extending the
scope of Dagger's work to include television is an exciting
evolution, and we're eager to see where they take us next."
About Aflac Incorporated
Aflac Incorporated (NYSE:
AFL) is a Fortune 500 company, helping provide protection to more
than 50 million people through its subsidiaries in Japan and the U.S., where it is a leading
supplemental insurer by paying cash fast when policyholders get
sick or injured. For more than six decades, insurance policies of
Aflac Incorporated's subsidiaries have given policyholders the
opportunity to focus on recovery, not financial stress. Aflac Life
Insurance Japan is the leading provider of medical and cancer
insurance in Japan where it
insures 1 in 4 households. For 14 consecutive years, Aflac
Incorporated has been recognized by Ethisphere as one of
the World's Most Ethical Companies. In 2020, Fortune included Aflac
Incorporated on its list of World's Most Admired Companies for the
19th time, and Bloomberg added Aflac Incorporated to its
Gender-Equality Index, which tracks the financial performance of
public companies committed to supporting gender equality through
policy development, representation and transparency. To find out
how to get help with expenses health insurance doesn't cover, get
to know us at aflac.com or aflac.com/espanol.
About Dagger
Built in 2014, after the era of mobile
and social proliferation, Dagger makes brands culturally relevant
within today's fast-moving, consumer-driven marketplace. The agency
believes that in order to prosper, brands must behave more like
media companies: innovating new ways to capture attention by
distributing valuable content across media. The agency demonstrates
this ideology by producing its own media brand, @Butter.ATL, on
Instagram. Butter has become Atlanta's definitive culture channel, and a
sought-after stage for the city's cultural icons, since its launch
in 2018. Equipped with in-house content production capabilities,
Dagger offers its clients a full suite of offerings designed to
bring brands to market with speed, these include: brand and content
strategy, storytelling, campaign thinking, media connections and
more. Clients include: Aflac, Intercontinental Hotels Group, the
Coca-Cola Company, the American Cancer Society, and Boys and Girls
Club of America. For more information, please visit our website at
Dagger.Agency.
Media contact – Jon A. Sullivan, 706-763-4813
or jsullivan@aflac.com
Analyst and investor contact – David A. Young, 706.596.3264, 800.235.2667 or
dyoung@aflac.com
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SOURCE Aflac