• by Aaron Baar , April 7, 2008

For years, Aflac's duck has been telling consumers about why they should be buying supplemental insurance, usually through comic tales that explain how the product helps them pay expenses in the case of extended medical leave. Now, the duck will be doing double duty, explaining to business owners and managers why they should offer the product to their employees as an added benefit.

"Our products, about 98% of them, are sold through the work site," Al Johnson, Aflac's VP/marketing services, tells Marketing Daily. "We sell to the employer with the ultimate goal of selling to the consumer."

The company recently launched a print and Internet campaign targeted at human resources directors and managers about the role Aflac's products can play in attracting and retaining employees. A television campaign, slated for May, will feature the duck in business settings such as a hospital nursery, an auto service center and an ice cream parlor. "This message is about how Aflac can help your business," Johnson says.

In addition to the first television work targeted at businesses, the Columbus, Ga., company is also broadening its media mix to include more business-oriented print magazines and Web sites, Johnson says. All of the ads direct consumers to a dedicated microsite, afflacforbusiness.com, which outlines the options for small, mid-sized and large companies and a breakdown of products, as well as animation featuring the company's signature duck.

"With 95% name recognition associated with it, we would never dream of not reaching out without the duck," Johnson says.

Aflac is expanding its efforts to reach the business community because its research showed that benefits were a key component of reaching and keeping employees, Johnson says. And with the debate over health insurance heating up via a presidential campaign, the timing seemed right. "With all the discussions about health care going on, we wanted to let people know what was out there," he says.

The company will continue its consumer-oriented efforts throughout the business-to-business campaign, Johnson says. After all, the product is supplemental insurance, and the costs are carried by the consumer. "At the end of the day, the consumer is the one that has to make the decision," Johnson says.