Friday, September 16, 2016

Prudential vs. New York Life; which will resonate more with Millennials?



Tomorrow New York Life will launch their new campaign aimed at maturing Millennials, i.e. Adults 25-34.  As they have noted this group is entering some of the life stages that typically lead to insurance purchases - marrying, buying a home and having children.  So it is time for them to begin outreach. (Gazdik, 2016)

They have chosen to take a humorous approach, with video spots featuring Demetri Martin.  You can check the first one out here.


Last winter Prudential launched their new Millennial focused campaign with an entirely different strategy, focusing on Millennials' competitive spirit and need to belong.  Here is a blog that I wrote about it , with comments from last year's class.


Do you think either effort will be successful?  Why?  Is humor a good approach?  What about creating challenges?  Can you think of a different approach that might be more successful?


Gazdik, T. (2016, September 15)  New York Life Targets Millennials.  mediapost.com.  Retrieved September 16, 2016, from
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/284740/new-york-life-targets-millennials.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=96397

7 comments:

alexandra schayes said...

I personally loved this commercial and think humorous angle is a less conventional and "boring" approach to the future millennials fear so much. I think it will prove to be successful. A negative could be it doesn't speak so much about HOW the company can help manage finances or really give any information about the company itself. However, overall, i very much enjoyed the ad.

-Alexandra Schayes

Unknown said...

I thought the ads were informational but it wasn't an ad that would make me immediately want to sign up for New York Life Insurance. More importantly I am not sure I would consider either insurance company if I was thinking about long-term investments. However I do think it is smart to go after the Millennials because of the size of the group.

If I had to pick which campaign I like best I would have to say like prudential because it actually provides comparison to when do young people think and when older people actually did and we all have someone in our family that probably should have started a lot sooner. So I guess I am saying it is relatable.

stylesprinter said...

Blog 2

My impression was that this ad is too confusing for a viewer and not funny at all (either that or Russians don’t have a sense of humor). While I understand Demetri Martin’s point about the security life insurance provides, there is nothing in this ad for Millennials. Yes, some people from my generation are planning on or already have children and comparing their life with kids to an existence of a single gardener is somewhat interesting, but it’s just not enough.

One of the questions that the textbook recommends us to pay attention to is whether the ad is selling the product. Considering that I’m supposed to be in the target group of this ad, I would have to say no. The ad is too unsophisticated and plain to be remembered. The only moment that grabbed my attention are the eyes of a bearded actor when he is looking at his birth giving wife… That’s it.

I would suggest eliminating Demetri Martin with his gardening scissors the first part of the commercial and demonstrate all the “life happens” kind of situations instead. Presented in a funny way (keep a guy with his funny eyes looking at his wife giving birth, add some work related short video, etc.), those video clips might be funnier than a “talking head” kind of commercial. But if celebrity presence is really needed, they could add Demetri’s comment at the end of the piece.

Evani Torrenegra said...

I did not think that New York Life's commercial was humorous at all. There could have been a more effective way in getting the point across that this was life insurance that they were trying to sell. Although Demetri says that they could help manage the family’s finances and be smart with your money it doesn’t show how. The fact that it jumped back and forth between gardening and the labor did not help that ad in my opinion. New York Life could have used a different situation other then labor to portray a reason to save because the last thing someone is thinking about in that situation is insurance. A situation I would have used would have been a couple cleaning up the kitchen after dinner and having their kids playing in the living room and that sparking up a conversation about insurance.
I did think that the Prudential ad a bit more as it seemed more of a realistic situation. There are many young people that decide on a certain age as to when they want to start saving, but in reality not many of us do. In bringing in older people to show when they decided to start saving can help really decide to actually save for retirement instead of giving an estimation that one will not actually target. I like the chances of this insurance company being more successful because of the fact that it is more relatable to the millennial
- Evani Torrenegra

Matt Ryan said...

When it comes to going towards a 25-34 demo, comedy has been the way to go as it is a way to comfort people with discussing the most uncomfortable ideas, such as life insurance. Comedy in life insurance has been the most popular pivot since GEICO based their marketing around comedy and cartoonish characters in the late 90's. From the Aflac duck, to the Farmers ads, to "Mayhem", using comedy or light hearted ads to make people comfortable and more influenced by a product.

Using Demitri Martin as the pitchman is very smart as he can be identified by their target demo with his show on comedy central and presence on You Tube and Netflix, and it is a lighthearted presentation by an "alternative" comic to help make New York Life hipper than its stodgy image as the old dower legacy brand in insurance.

Prudential is working more towards the "silicon valley" crowd with pushing the idea of being driven and being more serious, trying to get those who are starting a business or take themselves more seriously than their peers, it splits the potential audience, but it deep dives into those who know how important that investment would be, instead of trying to attract an audience that may be there, but has to be brought to water, and not just convinced that the water is cold enough to drink.

Anonymous said...

I like the ad a lot I think it is extremely effective. I my opinion it has the right mix of humor and being informative. As others have commented the ad doesn’t want to make you sign up right away and don’t tell you how New York Live Insurance would mange your money, However what this ad does it makes you remember New York Life and run a google search on it. I think if they can get you to their website with the ad it`s successful. In my personal opinion it is also really funny

Adam N.

Unknown said...

I believe it is a good that business are starting to target that generation but I don't believe this ad was successful. I really didn't find the ad to be funny although I don't believe humor is the way to go. The most interesting man in the world commercial does a good job of catering to this gen. Millennials want to see themselves a huge future success and I believe catering to their ego of use our product and you'll be great will work better. Ex: nike and Dos Equis