How a regional challenger brand in the uninteresting insurance business has been repositioned into one of the Northwest's most talked about brands. PEMCO's Playbook.

1. Rod Brooks
VP & Chief Marketing Officer, PEMCO Insurance
President: Word of Mouth Marketing Association

2. Northwest Profile #38

3. PEMCO’s Playbook:
A Challenger Brands Winning Game Plan

4. Who is PEMCO?
• Personal-lines mutual insurance
company founded in 1949
• Serves niche market of
preferred risk policyholders
• Provides coverage to ~200k
Washington households
• Historically conservative and
legacy oriented
• Leads with relationship

5. Challenges: Old and New.
1
Industry
• Highly regulated industry
• Product perceived as a commodity
• Insurance is an unsought product
2
Environment
• Consumers heavily influenced by peers, friends, even
strangers online
• New & unfamiliar channels are sustaining brand
conversations

6. PEMCO’s “WHY” Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
We enable and Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
protect the dreams Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
of responsible
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Northwest people. Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?
Why? Why? Why? Why?

7. Insurance is …
The law
Not valued
Not trusted
Not well understood

8. Can only
“win” by
“losing”

9. The BHAG: Our Big Hairy Audacious Goal
“Never have to advertise
for a lead again”
PEMCO customers
can’t stand the thought
of friends & family
doing business with
anyone else.

10. Awareness To Advocacy
Transaction Stage
Identify, Engage, Enable, Encourage Advocates

11. Awareness To Advocacy
Transaction Stage
Identify, Engage, Enable, Encourage Advocates

12. Awareness To Advocacy
Transaction Stage
Identify, Engage, Enable, Encourage Advocates

13. Awareness To Advocacy
Transaction Stage
Identify, Engage, Enable, Encourage Advocates

14. Awareness To Advocacy
Transaction Stage
Identify, Engage, Enable, Encourage Advocates

15. Extensive Research Initiative
Consumer • 100 In-home Ethnographic Interviews
• Important aspects of consideration
Research • Key influences of decisions they make
Internal • Cross Functional & Multi-level Conversations
• Culture, Values, and Challenges
Reviews • Strengths and Opportunities
Competitive • Studied Top Twelve Companies – S.W.O.T.
• Product, Price and Brand Positioning
Assessment • Advertising, Messaging, Distribution and P.R.

16. We talked to
people like these.

18. FIERCELY
INDEPENDENT

19. Leaders in Innovation – Proud!

20. Incredibly GREEN

21. LOVE THE LOCAL GUY
Hometown Heros
Local Trumps Large
Personal Trumps Price

22. Unique, Quirky

23. Unique, Quirky and COLORFUL

24. Our Vision
“PEMCO gets it!” – Voice of the Customer
PEMCO is the Northwest insurance company that
“gets it.” An organization that’s great to do
business with, one that shares the values of those
who live here, one that’s genuinely likeable.
It’s the first choice of responsible people.

25. PEMCO’s Winning Strategy
Different because we live, work,
Differentiate on learn and play in the same
hyper local
communities.
Invest in long-term
Deliver world class
customer experience relationships with consumers
through consistent engagement
Extend responsibility to build
Drive improvement through
service innovation customer relationships & heed
VOC across organization

26. PEMCO’s success depends on the positive opinion of people like me.
They listen, participate, encourage and enable me to share with others.
Listen
Enable
+ Participate
Partnership
Encourage

30. Integrated – From D.M. to Event Badges

31. Local & Relevant Partnerships
PEMCO, Tully’s Coffee & Children’s Hospital

32. Local & Relevant Partnerships
PEMCO, Seahawks & Sounders FC

33. Act Local - To Be Local!
Where they live, work, learn and play.

34. Act Local - To Be Local!
Where they live, work, learn and play.

35. Act Local - To Be Local!
Where they live, work, learn and play.

36. Act Local - To Be Local!
Where they live, work, learn and play.

37. In 2010, PEMCO sponsored or
participated in more than 100
events across Washington.

38. PEMCO Brand Ambassadors

39. W.A.L.L.Y. Is On The Move

61. The BHAG: Our Big Hairy Audacious Goal
“Never have to advertise
for a lead again”
PEMCO customers
can’t stand the thought
of friends & family
doing business with
anyone else.

62. BHAG Sounds Great: But How?
Build engagement opportunities by enabling
audiences to:
1 2 3
Do Something Share Something Get Something

63. BHAG Sounds Great: But How?
Build engagement opportunities by enabling
audiences to:
1 2 3
Do Something Share Something Get Something

64. BHAG Sounds Great: But How?
Build engagement opportunities by enabling
audiences to:
1 2 3
Do Something Share Something Get Something

65. Develop A Game Plan:
Empowering Guidelines
Boot Camps
Familiar Tools
Access To Voice

66. Social Media Guidelines
Appease reluctant stakeholders
and empower employees
• Clear statement of purpose
• Inform and reassure
reluctant stakeholders
• Establish engagement
expectations
• Educate employees on
best practices

67. Boot Camps
Increase familiarity & comfort of employees
• Explain guidelines
• Tutorials provide a step-by-step
how-to approach
• Examples demonstrate
consumer use
• Case studies explore social
media engagement and
suggested responses

68. Finding The Right Tools
Reduce communication barriers with
employee networking tools
1
Share Voice of the Customer

69. Empowering Employees
Reduce communication barriers with
employee networking tools
2
Share Business Ideas

70. Real Time News Updates
Reduce communication barriers with
employee networking tools
3
Share News and Updates

71. It’s Not ALL Business
Reduce communication barriers with
employee networking tools
4
Foster Employee Community

72. Ratings and Reviews
Increase customer-focus through direct
access to Voice of the Customer
• Give back office employees
access to customer voice
• Celebrate & share your
success stories
• Learn from mistakes and
consistently improve
• Own the results • Start every meeting with a
customer story!

73. When Paul learned that his dream home had been
burglarized and stripped of $10,000 of new hardware, he
didn’t know where to turn. Though a unfortunate setback to
the project, Shelly from PEMCO helped make a quick
decision and the project moved forward on time.

74. Getting hit by another driver is never a pleasant experience,
but when it’s Memorial Day weekend, during rush hour traffic while
you’re on your way to a job interview the experience can be downright
traumatic. Though Carole hopes to never be involved in accident like this
again, she knows if she is, PEMCO has her covered.

77. Thanks to our partners for their many contributions to our success!
EVERGREEN MEDIA, INC.
77

78. A Shameless Plug
“To advance the discipline of credible
word of mouth marketing – both online and offline.”
Case Studies: Helping you become a better WOM marketer.
Ethical Leadership - Best Practices – Measurable ROI
Community: Enthusiasts – Brands – Service Providers
School of WOM – May 9 thru 11
Swissotel, Chicago
www.womma.org

79. Let’s Connect
Twitter: @NW_Mktg_Guy
Facebook: Rod Brooks
Blog: www.rodbrooks.com