Unum’s 30 second advert shows a man using the classic tablecloth pull to show how people can sometimes have the rug pulled from under them. He then does a reverse pull, demonstrating how income protection can help.
The advert received a broadly positive reaction on Twitter; in contrast to Aviva’s advert which showed the story of a motorcyclist who crashes, and his subsequent recovery.
Many Twitter users criticised Aviva’s advert, arguing that was in “poor taste” and labelled it “depressing”, although many advisers have been pointing out that it achieved its aim of effectively delivering an important message.
Matt Morris, senior policy adviser at Lifesearch, said: “I don’t think one way is right and another is wrong. My instinct would be to go for the shock-value, because if it’s a nice advert people may pay more attention but then they’re likely to forget it. When I think of some of the most effective campaigns to improve public information over the years, it’s been the ones that were very shocking.”
Kevin Carr Consulting managing director, Kevin Carr said that both adverts are effectively pushing public awareness of protection and comes after efforts to launch a sector-wide non-brand specific consumer awareness push failed.
He said: “I don’t think it is surprising that overall people seem to prefer the Unum adverts as they are more palatable. However, one thing we learned with the Consumer Protection Insurance Engagement Campaign (CPIEC) was that most people needed to be disturbed and that adverts which were essentially easy on the eye might look nice but probably wouldn’t lead to any action being taken.
“I think it’s fantastic for the market that both companies are promoting income protection and it’s great that they are taking slightly different views on how to do so. Promoting protection to the public is long overdue.”
Earlier this week, Aviva announced that it would tone down its Downton Abbey motorcycle crash victim adverts.
“Before Aviva puts out any of their adverts, they do plenty of research on how to approach the subject matter. I don’t think they should react too quickly to some of the negative comments on Twitter,” added Morris.
“However, if they’re receiving negative comments from people in the industry or widespread public, then they should look back at their research and look for different ways to convey their message. Either way, I don’t think the negative comments will knock Aviva off its stride.”
