Presentation: How Hiscox Engaged its Market by Creating LEAP YEAR, a Small Business Web Series Presented by: Hunter Hoffmann, Head of US Communications, Hiscox Hunter will share how Hiscox Ltd., a 100+ year old Lloyd’s of London underwriter, connected with small professional services businesses, through an innovative award winning business comedy web series: LEAP YEAR. LEAP YEAR recently completed its second season with 20 episodes under its belt. Hunter’s behind the scenes presentation will cover the overall business strategy as well as the content creation, marketing and distribution approaches, with a special focus on social media.

1. Using branded entertainment and social media to increase brand awareness
Hunter Hoffmann, Head of US Communication - Hiscox

2. Objectives
Increase awareness of the Hiscox brand in the US market and associate this brand with small businesses and startups
Drive traffic and increase SEO rankings through links directly to Hiscox.com from social media outreach and earned media placements
Establish Hiscox USA as a trusted voice that understands entrepreneurs and small businesses
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3. BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT – NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND
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•Hiscox-branded web series about five friends who get laid off and start their own businesses
•20 episodes over two seasons
•Over 10 million views

4. Why did this make sense?
•61% of small business owners actively use social media to identify new customers
–75% of small businesses have a Facebook page
–57% use LinkedIn to build their network
•Americans watch approx. 100m online videos per week
•72% of US web users watching clips online
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5. Characters aligned with our core targets Human Resource consultant
Public Relations
Accountant
IT Specialist
Management Consultant
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6. Don’t forget to make it interesting
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7. Making Branded Entertainment Work
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8. Make sure it’s entertaining
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“A great example of restraint and focus in branded entertainment”– DM News “Highly relevant in today’s economy” - Adweek

9. Make it easy to find 8

10. Create relevant related content
•Hiscox’s MyStartup Stories - Interviews filmed with a range of leading US entrepreneurs including:
–Pete Cashmore – Mashable
–David Karp – Tumblr
–Klout – Joe Fernandez
•Hiscox blog posts for each episode of Leap Year linking back to risk (when possible)
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11. Season 1 - Using influencers to gain credibility
Guy Kawasaki
Former Chief Evangelist for Apple, best selling author of Enchantment and social media superstar.
1,420,000 Twitter followers
Gary Vaynerchuk
Social media innovator, creator of Wine Library TV and best selling author of Crush It and The Thank You Economy.
1,000,700 Twitter followers Adam Ostrow Editor in Chief of Mashable – one of the largest social media, tech and business blogs in the US. 39,000 Twitter followers Mashable has over 4.3M followers
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12. Season 2 – Keep it relatable and relevant
Integrated TechStars NY startup accelerator into the season 2 story line
Cameos by popular startup CEOs/personalities Alexis Ohanian, Rachel Sklar, Ben Parr, Dave Tisch, Techcrunch reporter Ryan Lawler and Bloomberg tech reporter Doug MacMillan, among others.
Premiered Season 2 trailer at Mashable Connect during live 20-minute Q&A
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13. Add some sizzle with known guest stars
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14. Hiscox slates and ads increased the commercial connection
•Slates before and after each episode cemented the commercial connection
•Approx 1.5M organic impressions of hard-coded Hiscox Small Business ad on season 2 episodes on YouTube, Mashable, DailyMotion, Blip.TV and Vimeo
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15. Using Social Media to Build Awareness
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16. Influencers spreading the word via social media
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1.9M followers 173K followers
57K followers
34K followers
73k followers 49K followers
48K followers 151K followers
1.2M followers

17. Getting the media and the tech industry to help out
•“When I need small business insurance I will indeed look to Hiscox, because now I both know them and appreciate their support of this endeavor & the industry.” – Rachel Sklar
•“Today, on the web series “Leap Year,” Alexis Ohanian’s cameo just about sums up the secret to finding the perfect startup idea.” – The Next Web
•“The mix of top acting talent and tech industry startup personalities is a recipe for success.” – Venture Beat
•“The show follows the ups (but mostly downs) of building a startup, with a wry comedic voice and plenty of inside jokes for the tech set.” – New York Observer
•“’Leap Year’ smartly incorporates well-known tech people into the storyline, a tool that builds buzz around the show.” – Lost Remote
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TechStars company
CEO, Zaarly
Tech writer ,
Bloomberg/BizWeek

18. Building superfans – for the show and the company 10

19. 40M Social Media Impressions
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68% of Leap Year’s social media followers in Hiscox’s target audience of entrepreneurs, small business owners, founders, etc.

20. Twitter Insights
Daily Engagement: 88%; Influence: 90%*
Follower interactions: 22,446 (2,913 Mentions/RTs, 19,533 link clicks)
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Total Twitter impressions: 24 million
* Engagement score: How well you are communicating and interacting with your followers. Influence score: growth and interest level among your audience.

21. Reaching audiences worldwide 21

22. Continuing to communicate with the audience post Leap Year
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23. Earned media and awards
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24. Editorial Highlights: 425M Impressions
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25. Entertainment Awards
•Winner: NATPE Digital Luminary Award: Best Branded Entertainment Series
•Winner: Best Branded Entertainment Series - Banff World Media Festival
•Silver Telly Award for Best Online Series; 3 Bronze Tellys including Best Branded Entertainment Series
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26. Key takeaways
Positive media coverage and tech industry guest stars helped drive social interactions
Effectively leveraged Leap Year to boost Hiscox social signal
Greatly increased Hiscox branding and impressions by leading with content and following with the brand
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27. Here’s the Season 2 Trailer
LEAP YEAR
Season 2 Trailer
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