ING Southland: Division of one of the world’s largest financial services organizations.


Like mutual funds with little or no fee, “no-load” life insurance eliminates commissions that can exceed 50 percent in the first year of the policy alone. A no-brainer purchase? Actually, no-load life is a niche product, designed for applications like retirement and estate planning, and for resale by fee-based consultants. Still, insurers like ING Southland are loathe to promote no-load too vigorously, concerned about eroding sales of their mainstream, full-commission products. And the market is a disparate lot: financial planners, CPAs and life insurance consultants. ING Southland needed a marketing partner who could grasp the complexities of insurance products and communicate effectively with these diverse professional groups.

To generate sales leads, CI proposed a custom publication featuring the successes of fee-based planners in all disciplines. By demonstrating appropriate applications for ING’s No-Load Life InsuranceTM, the company could promote the product without undermining its traditional products. A custom publication afforded the room the tell such complex and detailed stories in depth, and the editorial integrity that builds trust and rapport with readers. ING could use the publication to establish itself as a provider of objective information as well as a unique, use-specific product – and make the most prudent use of its budget, channeling information directly to its diverse audience. And a stitched in business reply card could be used to capture leads and refine the database.

The Objective Advisor sports a conservative but contemporary style. By focusing on a practice as opposed to a profession, it delivers a unique crossover perspective amidst a host of trade magazines, explores a specific area of content as opposed to addressing a specific trade group.

The premiere issue of The Objective Advisor produced more than 2,000 qualified leads from an untested list of 8,000.