Bruised AIG Bounces Back From Bailout
Meg Green |
"Looking back on it, it was a surprise to see how many experts were willing to leave [the AIG] brand for dead," said
On
Both examples reflect a return to the AIG brand, a name the company had once attempted to distance itself from after the company's federal bailout in 2008 (Best's News Service,
Marketing experts say AIG's brand has rebounded as the specific details from the financial crisis have faded from most Americans' memories.
"I don't think it's enough time to say people have forgotten, but they've probably forgotten the specifics," Piergrossi said. "The public issue dissipates over time."
<p> More consumers may know the AIG name today even if they don't remember why, he said.
"People were more exposed to AIG [during the financial crisis], they forget why there was an issue, and it's just the positive left," Piergrossi said.
At the suggestion of AIG Chief Executive Officer
"We didn't know if we'd get a whole bunch of calls after everything that happened during the economic meltdown. Was there a black cloud over the AIG brand?" said
It turns out, there was not.
So far, 140 million people have seen the AIG cable television advertisements, and the company has received one lone negative call in response. Beyond the single negative response, the company was surprised to find the AIG ads were more successful than the Matrix Direct ads in drumming up new business.
"The results have been quite honestly nothing short of miraculous," Harris said.
The AIG name generated a 23% lift in the response rate; a 20% increase in people opening emails; and a 44% increase in leads compared to the Matrix Direct brand, Harris said.
"It's a significant chapter in a telling story,"
AIG's brand had once graced BusinessWeek's annual ranking of the top 100 global brands. In 2007, AIG ranked 47th overall, and the highest of any insurance company, with an estimated brand value of
All that changed during the fall of 2008. AIG was on the brink of failing when the federal government rushed to its rescue with a bailout package valued at up to
In 2009, AIG created
Matrix Direct, which AIG bought in February of 2007, had just started to use the AIG name when the financial crisis hit, but went back to Matrix Direct because of the fallout, Harris said.
About 99% of Matrix Direct's business is term life, with an average face value of
"We've actually found the AIG Direct customers to be a little higher on the social-economic scale than Matrix Direct," Harris said.
The pilot AIG marketing plan was scheduled to sunset on
On
AIG's subsidiaries currently have a Best's Financial Strength Rating of A (Excellent).
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Copyright: | (c) 2012 A.M. Best Company, Inc. |
Source: | A.M. Best Company, Inc. |
Wordcount: | 857 |
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