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...e tasting. Idea #12: Sponsor a concert. It’s no secret that music is a pow...t can be motivated by music. Because concerts bring people together in a way ...

...keting programs, or simply make a concerted and intensified effort to better m...

... agency achieve its goals. Make a concerted effort to friends and acquaintance...

... the list, and (if you're a big company) at the top. Ranking creates the anxiety that motivates action and funds budgets. Who wins? The ranking services conduct studies and make recommendations. Then consulting groups receive contracts to bring the sites up to high-rank specs. Or carrier Web site departments find themselves with substantially higher budgets. And CEOs can tell their boards about their high rankings or concerted efforts to achieve them. Everyone wins - well, not everyone. The stockholders lose because the corporation is betting resources on the wrong horse. Agents lose because their carrier partners are working to weaken agents' local brands. Consumers lose because carrier-centered Web strategies will make their lives more complicated, not more convenient. It's all too easy to get caught up in this system. When reality intrudes ... ' key distribution arm. Why do site-ranking groups use faulty criteria? Why do carriers embrace these useless rankings? THE PROBLEM: COMPANY-CENTERED SITES It's possible that ranking services don't understand the realities of the insurance business - the psychology of insurance buying, the necessary flexibility of the market, the complex role of the independent agent, and so on. They don't realize that carriers' best strategy isn't to promote themselves and their connection with the insured, but to help agents strengthen their relationship with the customer. Of course, if carrier Web sites truly weren't that important, how would ranking sites develop their brands? By ranking agency sites? Who would care? Ranking creates a need to be high on the list, and (if you're a big company) at the top. Ranking creates the ...

... the list, and (if you're a big company) at the top. Ranking creates the anxiety that motivates action and funds budgets. Who wins? The ranking services conduct studies and make recommendations. Then consulting groups receive contracts to bring the sites up to high-rank specs. Or carrier Web site departments find themselves with substantially higher budgets. And CEOs can tell their boards about their high rankings or concerted efforts to achieve them. Everyone wins - well, not everyone. The stockholders lose because the corporation is betting resources on the wrong horse. Agents lose because their carrier partners are working to weaken agents' local brands. Consumers lose because carrier-centered Web strategies will make their lives more complicated, not more convenient. It's all too easy to get caught up in this system. When reality intrudes ... ' key distribution arm. Why do site-ranking groups use faulty criteria? Why do carriers embrace these useless rankings? THE PROBLEM: COMPANY-CENTERED SITES It's possible that ranking services don't understand the realities of the insurance business - the psychology of insurance buying, the necessary flexibility of the market, the complex role of the independent agent, and so on. They don't realize that carriers' best strategy isn't to promote themselves and their connection with the insured, but to help agents strengthen their relationship with the customer. Of course, if carrier Web sites truly weren't that important, how would ranking sites develop their brands? By ranking agency sites? Who would care? Ranking creates a need to be high on the list, and (if you're a big company) at the top. Ranking creates the ...

... the list, and (if you're a big company) at the top. Ranking creates the anxiety that motivates action and funds budgets. Who wins? The ranking services conduct studies and make recommendations. Then consulting groups receive contracts to bring the sites up to high-rank specs. Or carrier Web site departments find themselves with substantially higher budgets. And CEOs can tell their boards about their high rankings or concerted efforts to achieve them. Everyone wins - well, not everyone. The stockholders lose because the corporation is betting resources on the wrong horse. Agents lose because their carrier partners are working to weaken agents' local brands. Consumers lose because carrier-centered Web strategies will make their lives more complicated, not more convenient. It's all too easy to get caught up in this system. When reality intrudes ... ' key distribution arm. Why do site-ranking groups use faulty criteria? Why do carriers embrace these useless rankings? THE PROBLEM: COMPANY-CENTERED SITES It's possible that ranking services don't understand the realities of the insurance business - the psychology of insurance buying, the necessary flexibility of the market, the complex role of the independent agent, and so on. They don't realize that carriers' best strategy isn't to promote themselves and their connection with the insured, but to help agents strengthen their relationship with the customer. Of course, if carrier Web sites truly weren't that important, how would ranking sites develop their brands? By ranking agency sites? Who would care? Ranking creates a need to be high on the list, and (if you're a big company) at the top. Ranking creates the ...

... , ' he said. Boen & Associates devotes 20% of its $900-a-month radio-advertising budget to public-service advertising. Some commercials feature community activities such as arts festivals. Other commercials offer safety tips. At the end of each, the agency is identified. The public service announcements highlight the agency's public spirit. And you'd better believe that most people will pay more attention to an ad about a free concert than one selling insurance. Fireman's Fund Insurance companies can also use good causes as marketing and public relations tools. One forward-looking company doing this is Fireman's Fund. They not only sponsor worthwhile activities, but, just as important, they let the world know about it. Insurance companies are associated with disasters: fires, floods, thefts, illness, and death. To counteract the doom-and-gloom image ... providing free Tot Finders' to their customers. The Tot Finder is a reflective sticker that's applied to the window of a child's bedroom. The stickers reflect firefighters' flashlights and signal where children are likely to be sleeping. It doesn't cost much to send several hundred Tot Finders, and it shows that the agency is concerned about its customers' and prospects' welfare. Another cause' could be promoting smoke detectors-one of the greatest inventions of recent times. But the best smoke detector is useless with a dead battery. How about sending your VIP customers letters or birthday cards, including a fresh smoke-detector battery? It's a simple, inexpensive gesture that shows a caring attitude. And it might save a life or a building someday. Smoke Detectors Two years ago, New York state passed a law ...

... has gone on to produce two major concerts a year to generate additional reven...

...the local Little League, symphony concert or neighborhood marathon. You might ...

...ards about their high rankings or concerted efforts to achieve them. Everyone...