Travelers’ Branding Campaign Works

Travelers’ well-known logo – a red umbrella – remains a key element of its new branding campaign which launched last year. I first learned of the campaign recently when friends told me about some wonderful commercials with a dog that was intent on protecting its bone from real and imagined risks. The message: Travelers protects the things you care about.

The spots are well done and, importantly, maintain clear brand identity. Shortly after seeing one of these ads, I happened to be in the Minneapolis airport where, once again, I was confronted with the image (in the form of large posters along the corridors) of Travelers’ trademark red umbrella.

A couple of things strike me about this campaign:

• First, I’m glad to see that Travelers has not abandoned the familiar red umbrella logo. While I had pretty much forgotten about it, seeing it again reconnected me to the brand. Assuming it’s not a “bad” brand, why change? Yet, in the business world *not* changing is tough to do. When sales decline, when competitors emerge, when leadership changes there is often a strong internal push to “change our image.” *Not* changing can be a challenge but clearly pays off for those that stay the course.
• Second, the TV spots are attention-getting and tell a story in the space of about 60 seconds. They’re the kind of spots you want to watch again, tell your friends about and – in the process – brand awareness is generated.
• Third, it’s an integrated campaign. Not just relying on TV spots, Travelers is using a multi-media approach to raise awareness – communicating multiple times in various ways. That’s what mass media does best.

The bottom line – *don’t* abandon your brand identity capriciously. Too many business leaders and managers are too quick to change for reasons that range from fear to “me-too” tactics (following the competition) to ego. Unless you have quantitative evidence to suggest that your current brand image is not effective, don’t assume that’s the case. It takes a long time – and a lot of resources (talent and money) –  to build a brand. Once built, it represents significant value to an organization – value that shouldn’t be treated carelessly.

Author: Linda Pophal

Linda Pophal, MA, SPHR, is owner/CEO of Strategic Communications, LLC, and a marketing and communication strategist with expertise in strategic planning, B2B content marketing, PR/media relations, social media and SEO. Her background as a freelance business journalist, advertising copywriter and corporate communication professional provides the foundation for understanding how to produce and use high-quality, personalized content to inform, motivate and engage audiences. This, coupled with expertise in online marketing, SEO and social media, serves as a foundation for working with clients to find the most cost effective combination of traditional and digital communication tactics to get the results they're looking for. Linda is accredited through the American Marketing Association and is a member of the Association of Health Care Executives, the Society for Human Resource Management and the Association of Health Care Journalists. View all posts by Linda Pophal