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June 22, 2005 at 08:00 PM
Where’s The Tom-Tom?
A lot of people across the business were buoyed when it was announced a few months ago that this coming September would once again be called Life Insurance Awareness Month.
After all, last year was the first time that September received that moniker and by all accounts it was very successful for the industry. Many industry groups and life companies took part–either in concert or individually–in the month-long promotion and celebration of life insurance.
In the aftermath, several companies said they saw sales rise, and many attributed the blip to LIAM and all the events and ads surrounding it. Remember how Kwame Jackson, the runner-up on the Donald Trump TV show “The Apprentice,” brought some celebrity power to the promotion as its peripatetic and passionate spokesman?
Thus, it is somewhat disconcerting that there has been such quiet on the advance publicity front. Where are the tom-toms that should be beating louder and louder to build up to LIAM2?
Maybe the tom-tom player is out of town, or otherwise unavailable.
In any case, the only mention that I’ve seen about LIAM2 has been by Jack Bobo in a couple of his columns that grace the pages of this magazine twice a month.
With only two months to go until LIAM2 begins, there really needs to be more of a sense of urgency. Trade groups should be putting out releases with hints of what’s to come as well as reminding the public and media at large about how successful last year’s promotion was. And how the industry intends to build on the foundation of last year’s efforts. And how those efforts translated into more life insurance getting into the hands of those who need it. And, and…but you get the point.
As I said last year, this kind of promotion has to fight for attention with the myriad of other entertainments/promotions that assault the public minute by minute. It’s not just enough to spring full-blown into action right before LIAM2 begins. With only two months’ lead time, time is already short for creating anticipation and buzz.
Last year, one of the serendipitous events that coincided with Life Insurance Awareness Month was the very first Life Insurance Sales Mastery Forum, a new conference for producers put together by National Underwriter and Harry P. Hoopis, one of the premier producer presences in the business.
