Got Insurance?

They say sex sells, so what happened to the drugs and rock n’roll? We have seen ads using sex and humor as an appeal and they are very effective. Carl’s Jr has consistently used sex as an appeal to see their burger. Though looking at the ad, I don’t always want to go buy one, it makes me remember the ad because of its sultriness.

While the use of humor is done well by Post-It, making me laugh because their ad is something that many women wish they could do.

So sex and humor sell, and even the Oregon State University Barometer knows it!

So why are these ads so effective? Not necessarily because of the humor, that is just one portion, it is the entire ad design. So when looking at the Got Insurance ads, their use of ad design is spot on making them effective.

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With the Got Insurance ads, their target goal was to inform customers of ObamaCare. To get the message across there are three types of ways to do that; Hierarchy of Effects, Means End Theory and Verbal and Visual Images.

Hierarchy of Effects: the leverage point that moves consumers further though the process.

                Ad changes customer thoughts: prompts cognitive change
                                People who were unable to afford healthcare, can now view the ads, and realize that healthcare is something they can now have.
                Ad changes customer attitude: prompts affective changes
                                The same people who prior did not have healthcare, now will affectively take action to go get obomacare over other private insurance plans.
                Ad changes customers behavior: prompts cognitive change
                                The ad hopes for the customer to intentionally buy the insurance due to the ad.
 

Another way the Got Insurance ads used design theories is though verbal and visual images. Looking at multiple ads, you see a consistent tag line- Got Insurance. Keeping a consistent tag line, gives the consumer consistency and a brand identity. Ads with visual elements offer more favorable feelings to both the brand and the message they are portraying.

When looking at message strategies there are three elements to look at: cognition, attitude and behavior.

                Cognition: a rational argument and information sharing, with a unique selling proposition

                                The Got Insurance ads do a great job with cognition, sharing the information about obomacare and a doing it though a unique selling point.

                Affective: the feelings and emotions that they can connect to

                                With a multitude of ads, there is bound to be one that you emotionally connect with. For me one of the ads that I connected to was the Triage ad, after trying to do yoga I laughed because I know that my tree pose needs a lot of work.     

                Conatitive: Immediate action

                                The Got Insurance ads cause an impulse decision for some to sign up for the insurance. Thought the ads are humorous, they put into perspective the things we don’t always realize insurance covers, or how a simple accident can cause you to need insurance.

So why have these ads created so much buzz? Because they are provocative, and people like to share provocative things. They are being promoted on the web and though social media, and in doing so they are reaching their goal.

"The whole intention of these ads is to raise awareness, and that's what we're doing. It's great that more and more people are talking about it," Amy Runyon-Harms   

By using social media, “except for staff time, the only thing that is costing money is the website and the expense of hiring a photographer,” the ads are generating awareness because of the provocative nature.

The Got Insurance Ads use multiple types of framework; execution, informative and the spokesperson.

                Slice of Life- they use real people, doing real things

                Informative: though they use sex and humor, their goal is to transmit information about insurance

                Spokesperson: with real people, the ad becomes more effective because they look believable.

And lastly, with the ads you have to look the seven things that make the best ad.

Visual Consistency: each ad is the same dimension, similar consistency with colors and design

Campaign Duration: The campaign is relatively new since Obomacare is new, by continuingly creating more ads the Got Insurance campaign can become even more effecitve

Repeated Taglines: Each ad’s header s consisten with their tagline- Got Insurance?

Consistent Positioning: Along with visual consistency, each ad’s header, image and copy have similar positioning

Simplicity: Not overcrowding with text at the bottom, the ads become visually appealing with just the right amout of information being portrayed

Identifiable Selling Point: No dobut when looking at the ad, and reading the copy you know that the ad is selling the idea of Obomacare

Effective Flow: Though the page seems crowded with so many ads, you can easily view each ad in its own element, leaving for a great flow between each ad.

To create the best ad, you have to cut though the clutter and the Got Insurance ads are able to do that by Hierarchy of Effects, good verbal and visual images, good use of sex and humor appeals, accurately using Cognition, Attitude and Behavior to change the viewers mind, using multiple times of frameworks and having visually appealing ads.

Another article that I found was 11 ObamaCare Ads So Desperate Only Pathetic Losers Think They’re Cool, and just from that title I knew it would be something I would enjoy reading- and it was. 

The author Emily Hulsey, believes that the ads are “complete disrespect to young people and a desperate attempt to draw in this demographic.”She then goes on to write a snarky title about the ad that draws out how desperate the creators are.  

But Hulsey takes about how desperate the ads are, but this is where I am confused, if she believes they are so desperate and a disrespect to young people, why draw MORE attention to it by creating even more desperate and pathetic titles to the ads? Well, because great ad design worked, she felt her behavior change, was overwhelmed by the use of sex and humor as appeals, and the simplicity of the ads made her feel like it was tailored to “pathetic losers.” Well I am sorry Hulsey, but your attempt to bash on the ads is counteracted because I know that you have now spent multiple hours creating new slogans for ads you think are desperate, so I guess on behalf of Got Insurance, thank you for continuing to share our ads so they continue to go viral.

And that is how ad design is done.