Toronto ad agency Yield Branding has launched the first ads of its multichannel campaign for OMA Insurance, aimed to show the advantages for doctors who get their insurance coverage from the OMA compared with regular insurance firms. The agency won the contract in early 2013 and debuted the first ads in April, timed to coincide with the launch of the insurer’s new website.
Using the tagline, “All for doctors. Not for profit,” this is an unusually distinctive campaign, both for the OMA and for the typically sleepy medical professionals insurance sector. The not-for-profit insurance arm of the Ontario Medical Association provides life, medical and other insurance and advice to doctors and medical students, and this is an attempt to help the brand stand out for physicians.
The creative makes use of cartoon images, a lighter approach aimed to echo the sense of humour shared by doctors, who so often have New Yorker-style cartoons pinned up in their offices.
“If you look at the work in the insurance sector, this is kind of different, very irreverent,” said Brad Usherwood, founder and chief brand strategist of Yield, a firm which doesn’t normally specialize in the medical sector – the agency is known for its work in the financial and insurance industries – and spent more than a year on the campaign.
Bruce Palmer, CEO of OMA Insurance, Inc., said the firm wanted to tell the medical community that they understand their specific needs. “It was very much a departure from our usual strategy. The challenge for us was that we have a complicated set of solutions in detail, but it’s straightforward in concept… The fundamental difference is we don’t provide [just] insurance – we provide advice, non-biased advice. Usually that looks like insurance. Because we’re a not-for-profit organization, we work for physicians. We don’t have to worry about the next quarterly meeting.”
OMA Insurance’s goal is also to stand out from typical insurance and medical marketing. “Marketing in medical journals, you can’t tell the difference because it’s so bland,” said Palmer.
The multichannel roll-out runs through 2014 and includes a launch video, the website, advertising in medical journals and trade publications, direct mail and online ads.
The campaign is segmented between four different markets to send the message that the insurer knows physicians through each of their life stages, and the products they need in each of them.
“What was unique for OMA is we segmented their business into four target groups: medical students, graduate residents, early career physicians and established physicians,” explained Usherwood. When potential clients visit the website, they can select which group they fall into and get specialized content. “Their position is, we want to have a brand that is more intimate and personal with our physicians and our clients. Hence the segmentation.”
