2
PACESETTERS
The two leading lights in Healthcare sponsorship
VITALITY
METLIFE
Health insurance brands have
traditionally struggled to get their
name and product at the forefront of
people’s minds, and have often been
perceived as “boring”. Vitality tackle
this ill-feeling towards the sector by
educating people on the benefits of a
healthy lifestyle, with sporting
partnerships and also comedy. While
many competitors focus on fear-factor
and negative “what-if” scenarios,
Vitality’s core focus is to make people
healthier; a key message across their
entire communications model.
In recent years MetLife has made a
significant push to leverage sport
sponsorship to increase brand
awareness.
Vitality have chosen their sporting
partnerships to emphasise this core
message. Recent campaigns with
ambassadors Jessica Ennis-Hill
(VitalityMOVE) and Joe Root
(#wheresyourwicket), plus partnerships
with Premier League clubs, National
Rugby Unions and UK Cricket give
Vitality a strong link with sport. They
have also created a funny, friendly
brand personality with TVCs such as
the England Cricket Broadcast
Sponsorship.
By backing all of this up with unique
initiatives like the Active Rewards
programme and the Vitality GP app (a
virtual GP consulting service), Vitality
have created a fresh, fun brand image
for consumers whilst differentiating
themselves from their competition.
Their biggest investment has been New
York’s MetLife Stadium. With two NFL
teams playing their home games in
front of 80,000 people during the
season, it offers Metlife international
media exposure. In-stadium activations
are run in MetLife Central, a multistorey interactive space which looks to
enhance the fan experience by
engaging and entertaining them with
exciting activities. These include
virtual reality experiences such as the
MetLife blimp experience putting
visitors in the iconic airship and
touring New York City. They also have
an interactive punt, pass and kick area
where fans can test out their Football
skills before and after each game.
Additionally, partnerships with the
PGA Tour as well as MLB teams allow
the brand to benefit from further onsite consumer engagements as well as
global exposure.
These partnerships and unique
offerings allow MetLife to reach their
target market of young families and
empty-nesters, and have undoubtedly
helped solidify the brand as America’s
#1 life insurer.