Podcast: AFLAC CMO on Marketing the Iconic Duck with Disney|ABC’s “DuckTales”

EB Moss I39m onsite at Spark Foundry with Gail Gallupo CMO of Aflac amp160Gail you had a big day yesterdayGail Gallupo amp160Yes we had an amazing day launching a partnership between DisneyABCamp8217s DuckTales and Aflac as well as Spark Foundryamp160 It was an exciting timeMoss amp160Let39s start with what AFLAC American Family Life Assurance Company of Columbus does Gallupo amp160Itamp8217s an amazing company founded by three brothers over 60 years ago with a great entrepreneurial spirit visionaries that built an insurance company to help people in a time of need but to preserve their lifestyle amp160I am honored to be able to bring this idea to a whole new level in 2017Moss amp160There are a lot of challenges facing CMOs now How do you stay currentGallupo amp160I work with people like Spark Foundry and their innovation lab amp160I also have a museMoss amp160Like a digital native muse amp160Iamp8217ve heard that39s the way to go Gallupo amp160No amp160She39s been with me for over 20 years and is one of the most creative people I39ve ever met So together we stay on top of trends constantly reading and being very engaged in the startup communityMoss amp160You have 11 patents and also started BankersLab which uses gamification to educate financial services employees amp160With the big trend now for CMOs to have to be CTMOs do you think everyone needs to be as right brainleft brain as youGallupo amp160A great question amp160To be CMO if let39s say you are very creativeright brain you want to make sure that you are able to serve your customers so surround yourself with the people that have the skill set you don39t have to know everything and complement the areas that you might not be the most knowledgeable inMoss amp160Aflac has a reputation for surrounding itself with good people as well amp160Some of the accomplishments even in the year you39ve been there amp160Fortune named it a Top 100 place to work for Millennials Ethisphere named it one of the world39s most ethical companies and it was recognized as a diverse company by Black Enterprise and Latina STYLE amp160These are really important considerations for your human capital especially with Millennials and Gen Zamp8217ers focused on socially responsible companies amp160So how do you tout those important aspects to the consumer Gallupo amp160Itamp8217s not about touting amp160It39s about providing brand experience or walking the talk amp160That39s what Aflac does amp160Our consumers don39t want another big company touting that they39re the best at this or getting all that bravado outamp160 They want somebody who can connect with them knows them and speaks to them amp160It39s really our actions that have helped us get those awards amp160We have an amazing CEO Dan Amos who was listed as one of the top 100 CEOs worldwide amp160He is a marketer at heart and everything he does is with the heart amp160We follow his lead and we are what we call at Aflac quotcaring innovatorsquot amp160We care for our policyholders and will go out of our way and put something in place even if it might not be the most financially sound move for us Moss amp160There39s a history of confusion around what Aflac does amp160As I understand it you39re the largest provider of supplemental insurance in the United States amp160We all know the sound of Aflac duck how have you moved the company to have people understand what Aflac is versus the knowing the sound of its nameGallupo amp160Even today there are people that donamp8217t know what amp8220supplementalamp8221 or voluntary insurance is amp160They think amp8220I don39t need it because it39s voluntaryamp8221 but itamp8217s quite the opposite They really do need it amp160I39ve set as a mission with my team to drive that understandingSo with Publicis Seattle we launched a new campaign to really get at what are the lasting effects of injury or illness and how this can impact your life and what we want to do is we want to advocate for a healthy lifestyle amp160We don39t judge people amp160We don39t say amp8216Well you shouldn39t do that and you should save for thisamp8217 amp160We just want to make sure that they understand that they have an opportunity to protect that lifestyle by buying Aflac insurance amp160A campaign we launched called The Ripple Effect showed that having an accident might change the course of your lifeamp160 We39re trying to put it into language and scenarios that people understandMoss amp160Publicis has been your agency of record for quite a few years and in fact helped originate the duck amp160I think it was Kaplan Thaler about 20 years agoGallupo amp160Seventeen years this December that the duck was introducedMoss amp160So he39s a Gen Zamp8217er amp160And now we39re here at Spark Foundry because of another way to communicate the brand message using the Aflac duck amp160Yesterday was the premiere of your newest sponsorship with DisneyABC Television amp160And it was with Disney XD amp160Tell us about that Gallupo amp160We39re so pleased to be able to partner with DisneyABC on their new series revival DuckTales amp160It39s the 30year anniversary of those beloved characters and we felt like this was amazing synergy in terms of what we stand for at Aflac amp160The idea and activities or adventures of the characters in DuckTales amp160Anybody who grew up in the amp821680s is so attached to the seriesamp160 This is a fantastic show and to integrate the Aflac duck as the Aflac duck really does symbolize this idea of having adventure experiences and protecting your lifestyle so you can live the life you loveMoss amp160Describe the creative the campaignGallupo amp160Spark and Disney ABC did an integration with Good Morning Americaamp160 Aflac Duck was on the show with Ginger Zee who is a huge fan Then they took the duck shopping at the Disney flagship store here in New Yorkamp160 MediaVillage39s Charlotte Lipman is pictured at right with Aflac DuckMoss amp160Youamp8217re not running an Aflac spot within DuckTales so much as you39re the sponsor of it and then he is incorporated into the animation amp160To describe it itamp8217s the actual duck sitting and watching DuckTales and then in his little mind39s eye he is transported into an animated character among them amp160and hangs out with Huey Dewey and LouieGallupo amp160That39s right amp160Disney actually did the animation amp160He was a natural fit amp160The commercial introducing DuckTales and showing Aflac as a sponsor aired for the first time during GMA and the audience went wild amp160Everybody was singing the DuckTales song and incorporating Aflac in the songMoss amp160How did this idea come about amp160Did all three entities sit together at the table and brainstorm Did Spark Foundry bring it to you or did Disney say amp8216Hey have we got an idea for youamp8217 because those guys have an amazing integrated marketing team too Gallupo amp160Absolutely amp160We have a great relationship with Disney ABC through Spark and Disney actually approached Spark and talked about this revival of DuckTales amp160We were interested in a partnership because we felt like the brand stands for so many things that Disney stands for as well as specifically the DuckTales story and charactersamp160 Then it was a collaboration session to see how we bring this to lifeMoss amp160Do you ever get jealous of the success of the duck amp160Because I have to say AflacDuck is kind of beating the time of Aflac by about two to one in Twitter followers Gallupo amp160That39s the strategy amp160We are lucky to have a timeless iconMoss amp160You said you have to be kind of picky about where Aflac duck appears amp160There are certain lizards in the world of commercials that appear everywhere amp160So he39s been in the movie Up he39s been on the red carpet at the Grammys and now on GMAamp160 What are the limitationsGallupo amp160We really are a family oriented brand amp160And for that we aren39t going to put the duck in any provocative or risky situations it39s a family icon It will appear in more family oriented shows like on DisneyABC amp160We39re now doing cinema advertising and we39re very particular about which shows and previews that the duck will appear in at theaters amp160You39ll never see him with a Rrated movieMoss amp160That39s interesting because there are a lot of brand extensions happening now with cinema advertising as well trying to take it online and follow the consumer amp160What are the other media extensions that you39re looking to embrace amp160For example we39re in the golden age of audio and you have such a memorable sonic brand amp160How much are you embracing audio or smart speakers Gallupo amp160We39re definitely piloting with all the new technologiesamp160 We feel that there are opportunities with smart speakers and personal assistants with beacons and being able to send messages to a mobile device and communicate to where folks are amp160And then also chat with Facebook Messenger having over 12 billion active users and WhatsApp we feel very strongly that this is going to be something that39s an opportunity to get into a natural conversation with a consumerMoss amp160What is your projection for how you might move the brand forwardGallupo amp160My team is introducing a new brand strategy to show people that it39s just as important to have medical coverage as supplementallifestyle coverage and bring this up from kind of a secondary to an equalto medical coverage amp160So that39s big for usamp160 And as I mentioned it39s not just all about advertising to a consumer amp160Itamp8217s about engaging and driving a brand act amp160Itamp8217s not innovation for the sake of innovation because every new tech company is running out there and doing stuff amp160What we do is amp8220purposeful innovationamp8221 so we39re very purposeful about what we innovate and how we and where we bring this to life through the brand experience with more and more fantastic integrations like we had here with DisneyABC and DuckTales and with Spark Foundry where it makes sense for our consumers and makes sense for us to get our brand out thereClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160

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Podcast: AFLAC CMO on Marketing the Iconic Duck with Disney|ABC’s “DuckTales”

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E.B. Moss

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Podcast: AFLAC CMO on Marketing the Iconic Duck with Disney|ABC’s “DuckTales”

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