John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance signed
a two-year, $7.5 million deal with Microsoft to become the premier life
insurance sponsor on the MSN Network.
Beginning in early 1999, Hancock will receive brand exposure across MSN.com,
MSNBC, the MSN Expedia travel site, the MSN HomeAdvisor online real estate
service, MSN MoneyCentral, MSN Hotmail, MSBET, the Underwire women’s online
entertainment and information magazine show and the Slate online magazine.
The agreement also includes plans for collaboration in ad research and
implementation of new advertising technologies.
“While agents, brokers and other in-person sales are important to us, we want
to give consumers a choice and provide them with access to John Hancock
products in as many places as possible,” said David D’Alessandro, Hancock
president and COO. “The Internet is a growing and powerful purchasing medium,
and we want to be the first life insurance company that people think of when
they go online.”
“Leading companies like John Hancock understand the value of MSN as they
look to promote their brand to the highly qualified consumers who spend time
online,” said Charlotte Guyman, general manager of Microsoft online sales and
marketing. “We think Hancock’s significant investment in the network
reinforces MSN as one of the pre-eminent distribution points on the Web,
especially when added to our recent deals with FirstUSA (for credit cards) and
the premier search providers.”
Hancock’s banner campaign, Silhouettes, will run on MSN. It features pull-down
financial planning tools focusing on different topics such as planning for
college, savings, retirement and asset protection.
“We’ve been aggressively expanding our online presence to complement our
other distribution channels,” said Kathleen Graveline, senior vice president
of John Hancock’s alternative distribution. “And because Microsoft properties
attract 40 percent of Web traffic, the sponsorship will significantly expand our reach and
provide access to a highly desirable audience. We’re taking insurance industry
marketing and distribution to an entirely new level.”
In business for more than 135 years, Boston-based John Hancock Mutual Life
Insurance Co. is one of the nation’s top 15 life insurers. The company and its
subsidiaries have more than $116 billion in assets under management.
