ACE Limited (NYSE: ACE) today launched an integrated communications campaign emphasizing the insurance company’s ability to provide global protection for its clients around the world.
The message is clear: ACE is one of the few companies with worldwide operations, and the range of insurance and reinsurance products and services required to meet the expanding needs of both multi-national and local clients.
Media components of the campaign debuted today at the Risk and Insurance Management Society (RIMS) conference in Chicago, where delegates were the first to see elements of ACE’s new campaign.
Under the Global Protection banner, the integrated communications program will make extensive use of television, radio, print and online advertising as well as marketing communications materials including the Company’s 2002 annual report.
In the execution of its new external communications strategy, ACE has moved from a single tagline to a value proposition that sets out the company’s new position in an unconventional set of related thoughts:
Protection. It’s not the end. It’s the beginning. Continue.
The new proposition speaks directly to the needs of ACE clients worldwide and demonstrates ACE’s fundamental understanding of the rapidly evolving environment in which modern business is conducted. The key element of that understanding is that despite the staggering challenges to the economy since September 11, 2001 business needs to keep moving, and must be protected to do so.
The new campaign moves away from the classic insurer’s theme of ‘risk’ and focuses on protection and security.
Research gained from interviews with risk managers revealed a profound reaction to a period of heightened uncertainty and instability and reflected an acute need for precisely the kind of global protection that ACE provides.
ACE’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Brian Duperreault said, "In today’s environment of a hard insurance market, restricted coverage and budget cuts, ACE is committed to providing the security and protection that businesses need in order to succeed. Our new strategy assures our clients that we have the depth of capabilities and innovative solutions needed in today’s complex marketplace."
The new ACE message will be introduced at RIMS through an extensive media campaign. Shuttle buses to and from the McCormick Place Lakeside Center will be wrapped in the Global Protection banner. Seat headrests will echo the new proposition. Hotel key cards will be ACE-branded and convention information kits will be branded with the new ACE value proposition. Print ads will be featured in trade publications. Finally, two 30-second television spots will run on the RIMS in-house TV channel.
The new television spots are the latest achievement of Lance Acord, acclaimed cinematographer for the Spike Jonze films Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. They feature a continuum of universal images usually associated with protection—safe doors, drawbridges, rain hats, windbreakers, and even the peel of an orange and the lid of an eye. However, in an evocative reversal, each of these is shown not closing but opening. The message is clear: Protection. It’s not what it guards you against, it’s what it lets you do.
In tandem with the launch at RIMS, the campaign moves into the marketplace through the established media. The television spots will run on Bravo, The Learning Channel, The Discovery Channel, National Public Radio (NPR) and ESPN in addition to Fox News, CNN and CNBC.
Additionally, ACE will have a major presence in golf media using ESPN tournament coverage of the U.S. Open and the PGA Championship. Advertisements will also appear in Golf Magazine and Golf Digest around the Masters and other major PGA events.
Developed by the New York office of Doremus Advertising, the campaign will run throughout the year.
The ACE Group of Companies provides insurance and reinsurance for a diverse group of clients. The ACE Group conducts its business on a global basis with operating subsidiaries in nearly 50 countries. Additional information can be found at: www.acelimited.com .