1 in 4 Consumers Can’t Name 1 Life Insurance Company

By Steve Morelli February 17, 2020

Although life insurance companies are edging slightly on their property/casualty cousins, they are still a distant second in brand awareness.

One in four consumers cannot name a single life company and most can’t name three, according to LIMRA research. When asked to name a life carrier, consumers were as likely to pick the king of property/casualty companies, Geico, which offers it through another company.

In LIMRA’s survey, 1,500 consumers named 200 unique companies (including some insurance agencies and nonspecific companies like “Mutual”) out of the close to 800 life insurers in the U.S. Ten companies were named the most, representing 61% of the consumer mentions.

The top 10 companies that consumers can name have been either longtime advertisers or are just stepping up their game. For example, many a boomer can name Mutual of Omaha because of the TV show, Wild Kingdom.
Advertising was the No. 1 driver of consumer awareness, according to the LIMRA study “Whatchmacallit II: Life insurance brand awareness and consumer mindshare in 2019.”

Although more consumers recall seeing life insurance ads, the message is not always sticking.
“In 2019, 57% of consumers said they recalled seeing an ad for life insurance in the prior three months, up from 35% in 2014,” LIMRA said. “In 2019, nearly half of those who remember seeing an ad don’t recall the name of the company sponsoring the ad.”

Researchers said the findings show that insurers have to become more sophisticated in their marketing.

“Researchers believe some companies may find more success with their advertising by targeting individuals or market segments that have been identified as more receptive to the messages, based on available data, Big Data and analytics,” LIMRA reported.

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