Extreme Makeover: Agency Edition
April 3, 2012 by Peter van Aartrijk · 4 Comments
Maybe you saw the show just once. Maybe you were a regular. Either way, you liked it: the now-cancelled reality show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.”
Admit it—you even squirted some tears when host Ty Pennington says via a megaphone, “Move that bus!” And the bus rolls away to reveal a new home to a lucky and needy family—built in seven days by the show’s staff and local volunteers, using donated materials.
Extreme Makeover is on my mind as I hear conversations in a working group called “Agency of the Future,” with the Agents Council for Technology. I even occasionally sport a Ty-style soul patch on my chin. (Until the mocking gets to be too much; then I shave it off.)
On a serious note, the whole “makeover” topic hit me last year when I met an agency owner at a conference, and he relayed the following exchange with his son:
You Gotta Have Heart
February 13, 2012 by Peter van Aartrijk · 1 Comment
Is it possible that we as consumers can actually love a brand? For me, it’s an interesting question.
You hear consumers use the “L” word all the time:
- “I love Starbucks—just the smell of that place is intoxicating.”
- “I love my Ford truck—man, it hauls that load!”
- “I love my insurance company—and when they send me that late premium notice, I get goose bumps!” (Okay, that’s never been said.)
But yes, it’s true. The best brands are loved. Truly loved. Not just “liked.”
Because whether or not you’re aware of it, the brand is a relationship that can evolve into incredible lifetime value for companies.
Work Your Brand
February 7, 2012 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
Somewhere in the remote Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica, a 101-year-old great-grandmother is making you look bad. Her name is Panchita, and by the time you finish your morning blog rounds, she has already cleared brush, chopped wood and made tortillas from scratch. And here’s the best part: She’s not alone. People across the world are focusing on creating more of a healthy lifestyle. Joggers take to the streets, others go to the gym, and more people than ever are eating a healthier diet. Why? Taking care of your anatomy produces positive rewards.
The same is true for your brand. When’s the last time you examined it? Are you keeping it healthy? Are you feeding it on an ongoing basis? If you work with it, it will work for you—just like your body.
When you want to improve your lifestyle, you go to your doctor’s office. When you want to improve your brand’s “anatomy” and learn how to leverage it going forward, you come to Brand Camp.
5 Holiday Thoughts
December 23, 2011 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
Admit it. You tried to cram four weeks’ worth of work into the first two weeks in December.
Doesn’t matter if you were successful—the holidays now are here. It’s a great time to unwind, although you may have to work at it. Here are five ideas to do that:
Idea #1: Get to know the family again. Unplug the technology schmutz, turn off the cell phone, close that flap on the iPad—even move away from the TV. The family is the only thing you have that’s permanent in life.
Idea #2: For half a day before January 3, get out the office, get out of the house, and get out of the box you’re in. Take a pad of paper and pen with you. Jot down some ideas about where you’d like to go in life and business. Big ideas, big ideals, big things. You might sketch out some pictures of where you’d like to be with your firm, your job, or yourself. You might come up with a to-do list (tactics) after you think big (strategy).
Idea #3: This holiday season, make an effort to actually talk with people—in person! (I posted about that amazing concept earlier this year.) Read more
What’s Your Brand Anatomy?
December 12, 2011 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
“If you had to identify, in one word, the reason why the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be ‘meetings.’”
—Dave Barry
That’s an excerpt from Dave’s birthday message to fans a few years back, in which he announced the “Sixteen things it took me 50 years to learn”. There are some other real gems in there.
I agree with Mr. Barry on meetings, so why in the world would Aartrijk pile on with yet another meeting—our Brand Camp? Don’t insurance and financial services pros meet enough? Of course, and that’s why we’re aiming to alter and improve the very essence of what we call a “meeting,” or for that matter, a conference, seminar, workshop, speech, etc.
If Aartrijk can contribute to changing the rules of the game, perhaps we can show how the future of face-to-face meetings could be in our industry. Because, let’s admit it, as human beings we need to meet—and we like to meet, especially if it’s fun. Read more
Thanks for the Thoughts
October 17, 2011 by Peter van Aartrijk · 1 Comment
As I look at it, blogs aren’t supposed to be about me, me, me. They should be more about the reader.
Well, forgive me folks. I appear to be stuck in the recent past. Why? Because there are eloquent and wonderful friends in the insurance trade media who keep reminding me of Maureen Wall Bentley, Aartrijk’s executive vice president of brand strategy, who passed away in July at the way-too-early age of 47. (Here’s Meaux with her husband, Mark Bentley, on their wedding day Oct. 18, 2008.)
Clearly, Meaux had many friends around the business—and some have solid platforms on which they can comment on thoughts and news of the day.
I thought I’d share a few remarks about our Meaux that were printed recently. (Laura’s last two sentences below resonate loudly for me.) Thank you, all, for your thoughtful musings.
Dave Evans, Publisher, Independent Agent:
“She was one of those people who you enjoyed being with—in a meeting, in the hallway or at a convention. She was smart and funny, using her keen Irish charm and wit to accomplish her considerable responsibilities…. Who would have expected that someone coming from Conde Nast in 1991 would turn out to be such an impressive advocate for independent insurance agents…” Read more
The Joke’s On Us
September 20, 2011 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
Someone once said, or at least I’ve heard it said, “There’s no such thing as a joke.”
Which is why a story called “Got Regional?” in a recent issue of Insurance Journal apparently struck a cord with insurance folks out there. I wrote it with Chris Amrhein, my partner in crime at Insurance is Fun!
The piece points out the nuances of navigating the carrier marketplace. Apparently you agents all forget to laugh every day at this stuff, so it took this article to identify the funny material all around us. Kudos to Insurance Journal for having the courage to publish an entire “Satire Issue”; I’m told there were only two complaints—among tens of thousands of readers—about the material.
Chris and I were on the receiving end of many comments on our article, including:
- Agent: I spent the noon hour today reading the latest issue of the Insurance Journal. I have to admit I haven’t laughed so hard reading an insurance magazine in my life!
- Industry Consultant: Now that right there was funny, I don’t care who y’are!
- Regional Company CEO: Never thought about giving agents a sand wedge; I appreciate the suggestion. I thought your article was hilarious. We do like being a thorn in the national carriers’ side, and we certainly throw better parties, but the real key is we still have people who agents can talk to. We call them underwriters. Read more
Fun Times
August 14, 2011 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
Unless you were fortunate to be born with a deep and abiding love of crunching numbers (accountants, all rise!) the guts of the financial services business can appear, ahem, boring.
I know, what a revelation.
But is it really boring? It doesn’t have to be. Turn on your humor meter if you’re responsible for branding in financial services. If you can’t have some fun in the branding business, maybe you’re in the wrong business. It’s a big sandbox—just look at some humor types:
Belly Laugh Funny. Face it, folks, the really laugh-out-loud funny message, ad, website etc. is pretty rare. Why? It’s hard to pull off. A reference that is intended to make people go “BAH-hah-hah-haaah!” can easily fall flat. And that’s just wrong.
Cute Funny. Think about advertising featuring kids and/or dogs. It’s pretty hard to mess that up. These are the ads—like Etrade—where you find yourself going, “Awwww!” (Actually, I amend that comment. I think the Etrade ads belong in the Belly Laugh Funny category.)
Wise Guy Funny. Geico’s characters: Love ‘em or hate ‘em, they’re smartass funny. And they’re certainly effective. Sarcasm as a tool is alive and well in American advertising. Read more
Tribute to a Mentor & Friend
July 12, 2011 by Peter van Aartrijk · 21 Comments
Death leaves a heartache no one can heal;
Love leaves a memory no one can steal.
—From an Irish Headstone
Maureen Wall Bentley, Aartrijk’s executive vice president of Brand Strategy, passed away a few days ago at the age of 47.
Words can’t possibly describe how we all are feeling for her friends and family. Our sympathies go to her husband, Mark; her mom, Betty; and the many close relatives of Meaux’s extended family who she loved so much. And it is a loss to the family here at Aartrijk—our employees, our consultants, our clients, our friends.
Speaking of words, that was Maureen’s original true love. When I first met her 20 years ago, she was editor of IA magazine, which to this day is still an Aartrijk client.
She was meant to be an editor, and she was outstanding. Editors take a written word—individually and in groups that create sentences and paragraphs—and work some magic on them. Whatever her pen touched just got better. It wasn’t only a matter of correcting mistakes. Meaux saw what was missing in the words, ultimately shaping them, improving them, providing context and meaning, and enhancing and enriching them. Read more
I LUV SWA
July 4, 2011 by Peter van Aartrijk · Leave a Comment
What is the core strength of the Southwest Airlines brand? People. They’re in a fun-loving, people business that also happens to fly planes.
“Love” is what Southwest aims to shower on you with every brand touch point. The ad copy poking fun at competitors’ nickel-and-diming you on fees. The tone of the website copy. The cute birthday cards. The peanuts. The LUV stock symbol. The little heart-shaped coffee stirrers on the planes.
And the flight attendants—where DO they find these people?
I’ll bet 95% of the flight attendants I’ve seen in 15 years of flying SWA truly are way more fun, caring, interesting, and talented (many sing PA announcements to passengers with impressive voices) than the flight attendants on competing airlines. They also are folks you’d probably have as friends.
Unfortunately, the flight attendants on United, US Airways, etc. seem to have gone in the wrong direction. And I’ve been flying those airlines for even longer—30 years. Blame what you like—job stress, cranky passengers, demanding bosses—but many of those flight attendants aren’t fun. In fact, they can be downright surly. They’re partly the reason why people say flying isn’t fun anymore. Read more