Introduction
Since 2008, the
Progressive Insurance Company has used the character of an insurance cashier,
named Flo, as their spokesperson (Russell).
Progressive has aired over one hundred commercials featuring Flo since
that time (Cho). The three
advertisements chosen for this ad analysis have a common theme of “Name Your
Price.” The “Name Your Price” tool
featured in these ads allows consumers to choose options for their car insurance
at a price they are willing to pay. The
primary goal is to have customers understand their policies better giving
Progressive a better chance of becoming their insurance company. Progressive’s fictional “Name your price”
tool, humor, innovation, and selection
of a spokesperson are all effective methods in conveying the company’s message
that Progressive Insurance is the most innovative and consumer friendly
business when shopping for insurance.
Author
The company’s philosophy is to look for ways to bring innovation to the insurance business. In the 1990’s the company provided a claims service that was available to customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they provided an auto insurance rate comparison shopping service (“History”). This allowed customers to call one phone number at Progressive and the customer would receive an insurance quote from Progressive and up to three competitors. This allowed potential customers to save time by calling just one number to compare prices and buy insurance. During the decade of 2000, Progressive modified its claim process in order to make things easier for those who needed their vehicle repaired because of an auto accident and for the auto body shops that were paid to fix the damage. After access to the Internet became more commonplace, Progressive was the first major auto insurer to launch a web site (“History”). The web site evolved and became increasingly useful to consumers. The web site now offers a customer or shopper the ability to manage their insurance policy or claim and shop for insurance with the ability to compare prices from other insurance companies. Progressive has grown to be the third largest insurance company in the nation mostly due to their innovative philosophy.
One of the reasons Progressive has grown to be the third largest insurance company in the nation is by selecting an innovative ad agency, Arnold Worldwide in 2006 (“Progressive Direct”). Arnold Worldwide has successfully launched an ad campaign featuring Flo in the ads. Flo is effective in getting consumers to remember the ads due to her recognizable look and humor. The “Name Your Price” campaign was added a year later giving consumers more control in selecting insurance options. Other strategies are being used in more recent years to reach a younger audience. The new Facebook ads do not feature Flo, but a young, “Peter Pan-like millennial …who refuses to grow up” (Reidy). These ads are more likely to reach a younger audience due to the relatable character portrayed in the ad and the medium in which it airs.
Progressive Insurance has
always taken an innovative approach to selling auto insurance. The company got its start on March 10, 1937
from two lawyers named Joseph Lewis and Jack Green (“History”). They were the first insurance company to
offer drive-in claims service, and they were also the first insurance company
that allowed customers to pay their
premiums in installments, which was an attractive option for those that could
not afford a large annual payment.
The company’s philosophy is to look for ways to bring innovation to the insurance business. In the 1990’s the company provided a claims service that was available to customers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and they provided an auto insurance rate comparison shopping service (“History”). This allowed customers to call one phone number at Progressive and the customer would receive an insurance quote from Progressive and up to three competitors. This allowed potential customers to save time by calling just one number to compare prices and buy insurance. During the decade of 2000, Progressive modified its claim process in order to make things easier for those who needed their vehicle repaired because of an auto accident and for the auto body shops that were paid to fix the damage. After access to the Internet became more commonplace, Progressive was the first major auto insurer to launch a web site (“History”). The web site evolved and became increasingly useful to consumers. The web site now offers a customer or shopper the ability to manage their insurance policy or claim and shop for insurance with the ability to compare prices from other insurance companies. Progressive has grown to be the third largest insurance company in the nation mostly due to their innovative philosophy.
One of the reasons Progressive has grown to be the third largest insurance company in the nation is by selecting an innovative ad agency, Arnold Worldwide in 2006 (“Progressive Direct”). Arnold Worldwide has successfully launched an ad campaign featuring Flo in the ads. Flo is effective in getting consumers to remember the ads due to her recognizable look and humor. The “Name Your Price” campaign was added a year later giving consumers more control in selecting insurance options. Other strategies are being used in more recent years to reach a younger audience. The new Facebook ads do not feature Flo, but a young, “Peter Pan-like millennial …who refuses to grow up” (Reidy). These ads are more likely to reach a younger audience due to the relatable character portrayed in the ad and the medium in which it airs.
Audience
Selling car insurance is
not like other products because people do not purchase car insurance on a
regular basis. Progressive and other
insurance companies have to be creative in their advertisements to remain memorable
for their prospective target market, so when it is time for them to purchase
car insurance their company will be at the top of the list. Car insurance companies can use humor, fear,
and the ability to save the consumer money as advertising appeals to make their
company memorable. Progressive uses a
combination of saving money and humor in their “Name Your Price” ads. In addition, Progressive ads are full of
ordinary people shopping for insurance making it a product potential customer
can trust.
The target market for the
“Name Your Price” ads is adults who need car insurance. The customers are either looking to switch
insurance companies or purchasing insurance for the first time. The innovative approach of a tool that
provides the customer the ability to control the cost of their insurance will
also appeal to those that enjoy technology and the sense of designing their own
insurance.
Progressive tries to
offer services their customers want before any of its competitors. The “Name Your Price” tool is an
example. In 2009, when this advertising
campaign was launched the country was experiencing a recession, according to
the National Bureau of Economic Research (“The Recession”). Since the country was in a recession, it
seems like an excellent strategy to offer customers the option to set a price
for their insurance and select policy options that best fits their needs,
particularly when the customers are more concerned about their budget.
Text
With over 100 ads with
Flo, anyone viewing an ad that features Flo would immediately know it is a
Progressive ad. Flo has become the
personification of Progressive Insurance.
Flo, played by actor Stephanie Courtney, is a perky, knowledgeable
salesperson that works in Progressive’s superstore. Flo is all about insurance. Flo’s look is classic with her retro
hairstyle, white clothes, white apron, red lipstick, a huge Flo nametag, and an
“I love Insurance” button. Her persona
and humorous one-liners makes a normally boring product fun and entertaining.
During the entire airing of the commercials,
information on how to contact Progressive is displayed. Displaying the phone number and web address
makes it easy for customers to contact a representative of Progressive to either
make inquiries or make a purchase. The
end goal in advertising is to sell your product or service and by providing,
the means to accomplish that is a start.
In the “Empowered” ad,
several advertising appeals are used to attract consumers to purchase car
insurance from Progressive. The humor
appeal is used throughout the ad beginning with Cocoa Brown’s character entering
the “superstore” and later in the park scene, especially if the audience
watches the expressions of Cocoa’s character while the husband tries to juggle
chainsaws. Secondly, the ad has a plain
folk appeal. The couple and the two
other shoppers in the ad are ordinary people.
By having ordinary people in their ad, Progressive seems trustworthy and
a product for anybody.
Another ad with the same
“Name Your Price” theme features a futuristic room off the superstore. The futuristic room displays the “Name Your
Price” tools on the wall and two tools raise up from a center pedestal labeled
with the words: truth and justice. The words, truth and justice, are an example
of a loaded language advertising appeal by appealing to the consumers’
emotions. Labeling the tools, truth and
justice, leads the consumer to believe that Progressive is an honest company
that will offer their customers a fair price.
The commercial used a phrase, “one chance to hunt down the right
insurance at the right price.” The words,
“to hunt,” seem to imply that the tool is like a gun that a hunter uses to
track his prey. Instead, customers use
the tool to find the right insurance.
Identifying the tool with a gun implies that it is powerful. Flo even handles the tool like a gun by
aiming, pretending to shoot, and holstering it into her pocket. During Flo’s demonstration of shooting the
tool, the announcer proclaims, “ready, aim, save.” Flo’s actions and the narrators words are
humorous which is another advertising appeal used by the ad. At the end of the commercial, Flo leaves the
room through automatic doors. She
returns almost immediately to retrieve her phone from a slot on the wall. Flo retrieving her phone is emphasizing the
availability of the “Name Your Price” tool on smart phones.
A third ad named
“Standoff” with the same theme of “Name Your Price” uses the advertising appeal
of humor. After Flo explains how to use
the “Name Your Price” tool to a customer at the superstore she gets into a standoff
with two other employees acting like the tool is a gun. The commercial ends with Flo telling the
customer “I’ve got you covered.” This
statement symbolizes that Progressive has you covered in any unforeseen
event. This ad is not very long, but it
makes its point through the absurdity of the standoff.
The “Name Your Price” ads
are effective in providing information about the service in an entertaining
manner, but it is a little misleading.
Although the “Name Your Price” tool is only at Progressive, other
insurance companies can work with their customers to adjust their price
depending on what coverage they choose.
The unique aspect of the “Name Your Price” tool is consumers have access
to the information online or on their phone.
The information is visual because customers can clearly see the change
in price and coverage by sliding a bar to the left and the right.
Progressive is successful
in its ad campaign by making the advertisements memorable to potential
customers. Car insurance is a very
competitive industry and being at the top of a potential customer’s list is crucial. Throughout the years, Progressive has been
very innovative in their approach to insurance and in their attempts to provide
convenient services to their customers before their competition. The “Name Your Price” tool is an example of
this innovative philosophy, whereby consumers can have more control of how much
they spend on insurance at a time in history when money was tight. The Progressive ad character Flo has been a
huge part of Progressive’s success. She
is a likeable character that brings fun and humor to a normally boring, but
necessary product.
Cho, Janet H.
“Progressive’s Jeff Charney Promotes Disruptive Thinking at Content Marketing
World 2014.” Cleveland.com. 09
September 2014. Web. 09 November 2014.
“Empowered-Progressive
Insurance Commercial.” YouTube.
YouTube, n.d. Web. 17 November 2014.
“History.”
Progressive.com. Progressive Insurance. n.d. Web. 09 November 2014.
“Progressive
Direct Concludes Advertising Agency Review; Selects Arnold Worldwide.”
Progressive.
Progressive Casualty Insurance Company.
18 September 2006. Web.
09 November 2014.
“Progressive Name
Your Price Tool TV Commercial, ‘One Woman Narration’.” YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 09 November 2014.
Reidy, Chris. “Arnold Worldwide Creates Progressive Insurance Ads Designed for Facebook.”
Boston.com.
The Boston Globe. 07 May 2014. Web. 22 November 2014.
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