By Erik Holm
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. will launch its largest-ever
advertising campaign during the Summer Olympics with new television
spots stressing that the company, unlike some of its closest
rivals, doesn't answer to shareholders.
The ads include voice-overs from A-list actress Julia Roberts
and adopt a more-serious tone than Nationwide's current campaign or
the advertisements of many of its competitors.
In one, a minute-long spot set to air during the NBC broadcast
of the Olympics' opening ceremonies July 27, Ms. Roberts invites
viewers to "join a different kind of insurance company."
"Nationwide Insurance doesn't have shareholders," she says. "So,
we can protect what's most important--our members."
The new spots, part of a campaign that also will include radio,
print and Internet ads, are the latest salvo in an ever-escalating
advertising war among the companies that sell insurance coverage to
consumers. Insurers including Allstate Corp. (ALL), Progressive
Corp. (PGR) and Farmers Insurance Group are seemingly spending more
every year to keep pace with the biggest spender, Geico Corp., and
stay on the radar of potential customers.
Figures compiled by the data firm SNL Financial show Geico, a
part of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB),
spent about $1 billion on marketing expenses last year. Nationwide
ranked seventh, according to SNL, with a marketing budget of $277.3
million.
"When you have a competitor spending over a billion dollars on
ads, which we do, you have to break through the clutter in a
relevant way," said Matthew Jauchius, chief marketing and strategy
officer at Nationwide, in a webcast to announce the new campaign
Tuesday. "We are going against the grain in the marketplace by
taking a more sincere tone, an authentic tone...rather than just a
yuk with a phone number, which seems to characterize our category
today."
Mr. Jauchius declined to say how much Nationwide would spend on
the new campaign but said it was the company's "largest campaign
both in terms of cost and scope."
"This is a serious effort on our part to change the
conversation" about insurance, he said.
Mutual insurance companies like Nationwide or State Farm Mutual
Automobile Insurance Co., the largest home and auto insurer in the
U.S., are owned by their policyholders. Some pay dividends to
policyholders.
The Nationwide ads encourage viewers to "Join the Nation," a
reference to a new website the company is launching as part of the
campaign. They also keep the company's longtime slogan, "Nationwide
is on your side."
The new campaign was designed by Durham, N.C., advertising
agency McKinney.
Write to Erik Holm at erik.holm@dowjones.com