First Word

For nearly 10 years, Liberty Mutual has been doing ads on the boardwalk in front of the Statue of Liberty. The thread that ties the campaign together is “Truth Tellers”. Essentially, someone on that boardwalk is telling the audience a truth, in a humorous way, about how great it is to have Liberty Mutual Insurance. In recent years, that truth has been about how much money you can save by choosing Liberty.
The insight that people like to/want to/need to save money on their insurance is neither new nor earth-shattering. Of course, people are looking for that. So, in our world of the highly competitive insurance category, the insight has become second to the strategy and delivery system of the message between insurance carriers. Those with 2x or 3x the media spend of Liberty can afford to segment their ads to specific target markets. Liberty, on the other hand, uses the simplicity of one branded location and a simplicity of message to drive our point home.
In the commercial, “First Word” we see a very familiar thing take place. A new mom, accompanied by her sister, take her baby for a walk in the stroller. Of course there is a twist to this very ordinary happening. The mom’s (Is obsession the right word? Yeah, it is) obsession with how much money she saved by switching to Liberty Mutual has had unforeseen ramifications for her family, specifically with her first born. It’s the type of thing that has the aunt taken aback and the mom embarrassed, but only slightly. I mean, she did save $700.