Today, Adweek reported that the AFLAC account, long held at Kaplan Thaler Group, would be going into review.
Of course, there’s all sorts of reader comments on the site about KTG’s campaign, pro and con. While I can’t say I was a big fan of the duck campaign, it put AFLAC on the map. And it was a lesson in big broadcast marketing, old-school critter advertising, and “spend money to make money” theory. When you crank up the ad machine to 11 like that, you’re going to get noticed. And whether you liked it or not, you couldn’t look away. It’s hard to argue against that kind of effect.
Interestingly, we had an AFLAC rep come to our office a few weeks ago as part of a benefits meeting. They added AFLAC as an option we could all choose. And for the first time, I learned exactly what AFLAC and its “supplemental insurance” is and how it works. In all the years of seeing the duck and hearing Gilbert Gottfried’s shrill voice, it never quite sunk in what AFLAC was all about.
Perhaps incorporating a little more “what we actually do” into the messaging will be the next agency’s challenge.
