During LIAM, LIFE’s goal is to get Americans thinking about their life insurance needs and, hopefully, to motivate them to do something to address those needs. Here’s an overview of LIFE September 2008 activities.
Donnie Wahlberg is the LIAM 2008 Spokesperson!
Donnie has a close connection to the subject of life insurance and the need to plan ahead for life’s uncertainties. Singer, actor and producer Donnie Wahlberg is the latest LIAM celebrity spokesperson. Like all previous spokespeople, older sister, Debbie, died at the age of 44 with a 16-year-old son and no life insurance. Fortunately, Wahlberg’s nephew was taken care of thanks to a strong, extended family support system and famous uncles with the wherewithal to meet his needs. But Donnie understands that most American families don’t have those same kinds of resources to fall back on. That’s why he’s committed to helping spread the word about the need for Americans to include life insurance in their financial plans. Check out Donnie's video message on LIFE's YouTube page .
Advertising
Advertising continues to be a big part of LIFE’s LIAM plans. A priority this year will be to reach women, whose role in financial decision making is growing. If they’re not making the big financial decisions in their households, they’re influencing them. Recognizing this, LIFE ads are appearing in Real Simple, Working Mother, Family Fun, Wondertime, Parents and Newsweek. LIFE is also reaching women online with banner adson the following Web properties: AOL, BabyCenter, iVillage and Disney Online.
realLIFEstories
For the 13th consecutive year, LIFE is partnering with Newsweek to bring realLIFEstories to the American people. These are true stories that illustrate how important insurance can be when families and businesses are faced life’s most challenging moments, like the death or disability of a loved one. LIFE conducts an annual contest to elicit the best stories from across the country. This year's featured stories can be seen in the September 8, 2008 issue of Newsweek.
Public Service Announcements
Most Americans know they need life insurance. But millions don’t have any for one simple reason – excuses! There’s a seemingly endless list of excuses people make for not buying insurance they know they need, and this year’s PSAs highlight some of the most frequently recited ones. LIFE Foundation spokesman Robert Miller talks about the "cost" excuse and other common excuses. The PSAs have been distributed to 1,500 stations across the country and have already generated close to 50 million media impressions.
“Oh, the Excuses” Flash Video
Continuing with the “excuses” theme, LIFE’s newest Web-video that will soon be on our homepage features a discussion between a man and his conscience. Though well intentioned, the man comes up with excuse after excuse for not buying life insurance he needs to protect his family. By exposing the public to this entertaining video, LIFE’s hope is that consumers will ditch their excuses and make buying life insurance the priority that it needs to be.
Elmer Fudd and Life Insurance?
We put this question to the American people. Which of the following fictional characters do you think would qualify for the most favorable rate on life insurance: Elmer Fudd, Fred Flintstone, Popeye, George Jetson or Batman? Our intent is to educate Americans about the important subject of underwriting. In addition to releasing our survey findings, we’ll be issuing a “white paper” on underwriting. In layperson’s terms, the report explains what it is and why consumers should care. Check back in early September to see both the survey results and the report.
Don’t Drop that Life Insurance Coverage!
With job losses mounting, gas prices still near record highs and consumers worried about where the economy is headed, Americans are scrambling to find new ways to trim their family budgets. To save money during a tough economic period, a new LIFE survey indicates that more than one in five (22%) Americans say they would be likely to cancel a life insurance policy. In September, LIFE will issue a press release that lets consumers know why that’s not a smart way to cut the family budget, especially if they have loved ones who depend on them financially.
Reaching Out to Multicultural Markets
LIFE will again reach out aggressively to Spanish- and Chinese-language media outlets to make sure our important messages reach these underserved markets. A new LIFE survey of Hispanic Americans indicates that Latinos are more worried than the population-at-large about how their families would manage financially if they were to die tomorrow. An alarming 49% of Latinos say they do NOT have enough life insurance coverage. A press release detailing these findings will be released in September.
LIFE Lessons College Scholarship Program
In September, LIFE will publicly announce the recipients of its 2008 LIFE Lessons College Scholarships. Earlier in the year, college-age students were asked to write essays or submit videos describing how the death of a parent impacted their lives, especially their ability to afford college. Of the more than 1,200 submissions LIFE received, most describe the financial hardship that resulted when a parent died and had little or no life insurance coverage. LIFE will award 2 grand-prize scholarship of $5,000. In all, LIFE will award 25 scholarships totaling $25,000.
LIFE Blog
Throughout September, LIFE will post lots of great life insurance essays on its blog. If you’re interested in being a part of an ongoing dialogue about important insurance planning topics, it’s time to add www.lifehappens.org/blog to your list of favorite sites.
Insurance e-cards
LIAM is the perfect time to send a life insurance e-cards to someone you know. It’s a free and effective way to remind people that now is as good a time as any to make sure their life insurance needs are up to date. Check out LIFE’s large selection of eCards at www.lifehappens.org/ecards. The “Just Because” cards are a particularly good choice for September.
If you’d like to learn more about LIFE’s plans for LIAM 2008, feel free to contact Jon Dressner at jdressner@lifehappens.org.
|
