From incentivizing wellness to protecting against catastrophic loss, what's old is new again in health insurance advertising.
Cigna is the latest insurer to launch a new branding platform, moving away from its previous emphasis on self-empowerment with "Go you," to the theme of community support and advocacy, with the slogans like "Together, all the way" and "Anything I can do, we can do better."
In some ways, Cigna's fresh advertising campaign is not that new. The idea of insurance as a financial backstop and support structure is one that has been around for close to a century, as a look back at old advertisements for health, life and disability insurance suggests -- and it's one that may be worth emphasizing today.
"There is some merit to the idea of marketing insurance as protection from financial catastrophe," said Jonathan Katz, who runs the broker agency Virginia Medical Plans and curates a number of vintage insurance ads. "With so much focus in the health insurance industry on the legal requirement for all Americans to carry healthcare coverage, sometimes that idea is lost."
The vintage ads are interesting and sometimes funny as a historical retrospective, Katz said upon agreeing to share them with Healthcare Payer News. "But the real attraction is their message. They're perfect examples of 'the more things change the more they stay the same.'"
This 1935 Aetna ad "is surely outdated," Katz said, "but the importance of protecting one's family remains as strong as ever."
Indeed, disability plans and cash-benefit plans for heart disease, stroke and cancer are seeing a surge in marketing, as baby boomers and younger generations face aging with chronic diseases. In 1954, amid a booming economy and growth in homeownership, a ladder-themed ad told the burgeoning middle class that it's good to have a financial cushion.
By that time, the Blues had one of the most recognizable brands in healthcare. In this 1958 Saturday Evening Post ad, Blue Cross pitched itself as the health plan to have.
In 1996, amid the Clinton Administration's health reform backlash and the rise of HMOs, the Blues were pitching comprehensive coverage: "What if you didn't have to worry?"
Wellness, too, has been an enduring theme. In this 1940 ad, Metropolitan Life explains the need to tend to the stomach's garden with "Seven Hints for Good Digestion."
In 1952, Metropolitan Life, perhaps noticing an obesity problem, offered suggestions for weight management in a "Cheers for Chubby" ad chronicling one man's effort to shrink his waistline.