Calling all first-time attendees! Let us help you get the most out of your overall conference experience. Join the members of the Marketing Committee to:

• Guide you through the program
• Get answers to your questions
• Break new ground, meet new friends, and most of all… have FUN!

Join us as the conference begins to meet and greet peers while you share ideas and common experiences.

Welcome to the 2022 conference!

As we kick off a conference dedicated to "breaking new ground," our opening speaker will challenge us to embrace purpose as the compass that helps us successfully chart new courses and navigate change. More than an artfully-worded vision statement, a clear and compelling purpose is perhaps the most powerful, yet underutilized resource in driving business outcomes. When fully embraced and activated, it authentically strengthens your company’s connection to customers, associates, and stakeholders, and brings deeper meaning to strategies and business plans. This session will both inspire and equip you with practical ways you can ground your organization — and yourself — in a deeper connection to purpose, and ultimately unlock greater clarity, alignment, and commitment across teams to delivering impactful results.

The COVID-19 pandemic has jeopardized millions of peoples’ mental, physical, and financial health. The industry has responded by developing benefits and programs designed to improve overall wellness. Despite this, marketing these programs and engaging consumers has been challenging. This session will offer perspectives and trends related to physical, mental, and financial wellness programs and the engagement strategies that are most effective in marketing these benefits.

Join in this interactive workshop where you will learn how to create a customer advisory board, keep board members engaged, and get your strategic research questions answered in record time. Whether your customers are HR decision-makers, benefits brokers, financial advisors, agents, or end consumers, you will learn how customer advisory boards allow you to partner with your most important, high-impact customers and include their voice in your most important decisions.  This workshop will include case studies of how customer advisory boards have been used by insurance companies across varied departments, including sales, marketing, and product. 

Talent is a key issue on everyone’s minds these days.  We are in a new environment and operating under a new model, and it is here to stay.  What are employee expectations and what is important to them?  What should managers keep in mind as they discuss the value proposition of our industry?  It has become even more of a challenge to attract and retain quality talent in the past two years, and in this session, we will get ideas for turning the perception of the insurance industry into one full of career growth opportunities and excitement for both current employees and new candidates.

As a “Challenger Brand”, Universal Parks & Resorts is used to battling the odds as they operate in one of the most competitive industries in travel & hospitality.   So when COVID-19 brought chaos and uncertainty to the business landscape, they were ready to apply that same organization's muscle memory to this new challenge and turn it into an opportunity.  Learn how Universal Parks & Resorts rose to this unprecedented challenge, and how they continue to navigate the evolving landscape ahead to communicate, market, and engage with audiences now and in the future.

The future is going to be driven by Artificial Intelligence — how will it help people make better decisions? How could it alter long-standing practices in financial services? Where do business opportunities lie in leveraging new technological capabilities, and how can organizations prepare for these changes? The key, according to Dr. Jennifer Golbeck, is to focus on the strategic impact of these technologies.

Dr. Golbeck studies the most cutting-edge developments in Artificial Intelligence and is one of the world’s foremost experts in the field. She will teach us how to discover people’s hidden attributes from their online behavior and prepare for a data-driven future.

In an era when we’re asked to account for every marketing dollar spent and demonstrate the return on that investment, we will explore the newest, most relevant tools and look at how to leverage them in ways that will resonate with your leaders.  Areas of focus will include:

• Measuring impact across multiple attribution models
• Assessing your brand’s ROI on paid media campaigns
• Identifying and deploying next-best-action models to drive activity and influence outcomes

Doing business with diverse consumers, who are typically underserved when it comes to matters of financial security, is raising the importance of high quality market assessments, development strategies, and impact measurement (ROI).  Recognizing that companies are at varying degrees of maturity with approaches to meet the needs of these important markets, this interactive session will provide the opportunity to learn from carrier panelists and peers. Join the discussion about marketing practices that work, and the opportunities ahead.

According to research published by LIMRA and EY, gaps in benefits awareness and understanding continue to persist, and in the new world of work, have made education and engagement “burning platforms.” Understanding audience preferences will better connect employees with the coverage they need, and help them understand the coverages they have. For sales communications, outcomes can range from better engagement to increased sales. We have at our fingertips unlimited communications resources leveraging all kinds of technology – from direct mail to multi-media digital presentations – but what is most effective for our audiences, and when? Just because we can do it, should we? Join this panel discussion to hear insights on the evolution of benefits communication and the approaches that will drive successful employer and employee engagement.

The pandemic accelerated everything virtual. Sales teams’ preferences have changed and now it’s up to us to get fast in meeting their expectations before they change again. Attend this session to learn what the research has to say about the digital evolution, how one insurance company is embracing the change and what work is left to do.

Marketers have long been the champions of uncovering customer insights, segmenting audiences, designing user journeys, and creating engaging digital content and capabilities. However, as organizations are increasing their focus on customer experience, the demand for application of these skills to areas beyond marketing has become commonplace. For many companies, this convergence has resulted in blurred lines between the traditional roles of marketing and operations teams, leading to the need to define new processes and operating models. Join us for a panel discussion to hear from marketing leaders about how their organizations are responding to this evolution and where they’ve found success in driving clarity.

As the world has become more digital and a vast amount of consumer information has become available and continues to grow – firms have become better and more efficient at using that data for marketing and targeting purposes. In some cases, this has resulted in very convenient offers, effective targeting, and enablement of ideal customer experiences – making it simple and relevant for consumers to engage. In other cases, targeting breaches the lines of ethical marketing. In a world where data is the new oil, AI is used for efficient marketing and consumers' concerns about their privacy are at an all-time high – how do we balance engagement while avoiding encroachment? Our speakers will examine this topic from the industry’s perspective, marketing perspective as well as from the consumer lens relying on data from consumer studies.

Conceptually, sales and marketing teams are both working towards the same goals: to successfully earn, keep and grow customer relationships to generate revenue. But in practice, getting and maintaining alignment can be challenging, and the relationship is historically prone to friction. When these functions effectively work together, magic happens and incredible results are achieved.  Where do things get lost in translation between sales and marketing teams? Have you identified root causes of relationship breakdowns?  What steps have you taken to strengthen your alignment and partnership? Bring your own experiences to this engaging roundtable discussion. You’ll leave with new insights and best practices to get teams in sync.

While the last two years have not fundamentally changed the core value our industry provides (insurance and savings solutions, trusted guidance, etc.), the pandemic certainly shook us up and caused many to revisit their marketing messages and methods. What of those changes were temporary adaptations, and which will prove to be lasting? Are you seeing significant shifts in how your organization is evolving to enhance relevance? And how is that impacting how you tell your organization’s story to different stakeholders? Join us in sharing your perspective and walk away with groundbreaking ideas.

To be competitive in today’s environment, you must creatively manage the change that is inevitable.  As Jeff Tobe explores “Coloring Outside the Lines” you will learn to tap into your innate creativity to benefit both your professional and personal life.  He will challenge you to step outside your comfort zone in positioning your product, your service or yourself more creatively than ever before. You will come away knowing how to unleash your innovative thinking skills, see the world through your customer’s perspective, and challenge your existing boundaries.

Virtual events, be it webinars or meetings, are here to stay. But as in-person meetings make a comeback, hybrid events are emerging. How do you plan an effective hybrid experience? How can you keep virtual events fresh and engaging? Join us to learn best practices used by your peers. Learn how companies are trying new things and the results they are seeing. Discover how to plan, promote and execute virtual events that are enjoyable, beneficial and worthwhile for your attendees while meeting your objectives. Leave with ideas for event content, recommendations for successful execution and examples of what has worked.

Listen, reveal and share marketing struggles with your peers during this interactive panel dialogue. Learn how hidden opportunities can provide unexpected benefits. Walk away with potential solutions and perhaps some peace of mind!

We are in unexplored territory as we shift to marketing in a post-pandemic world.  How should we as marketers approach our roles in today’s new environment?  What’s working and what’s not with our new hybrid workforce?  How do we re-energize and capitalize on the opportunities ahead?  Join our panel as they discuss this new world from both a marketing and human resource perspective.  Learn how companies are succeeding and how to tie your own personal development into successful execution.