October 22, 2002

New magazine gives customers a hand

Hands On covers financial and protection services in a single marketing piece.

As part of its transformation to a dominant financial services provider, Allstate is test marketing a new business development magazine, Hands On^sm. The new magazine represents the first time a single marketing piece has addressed the complete offering of products and services - including financial and protection (P&C).

"People think of us mainly as a protection company and insurance provider," says Anne Lynch, senior marketing manager, database marketing, and managing editor of Hands On. "By putting all of our products in front of our customer in one place, Hands On helps us get the message out that we're a financial services provider. We offer a full range of products and services to help meet customer needs."

Distributed three times a year, Hands On will help build valuable customer relationships by providing policyholders with a continuing stream of practical, simple advice on how to control their financial security. Each issue addresses a range of topics, including managing money, choosing insurance, and maintaining homes and vehicles.

"Hands On is an excellent educational and branding tool to inform customers about the variety of products and services we have to offer and help them determine what they may need," explains Lynch. "Its ultimate purpose, of course, is to sell a wider basket of goods by building relationships and providing cross-sales opportunities."

In addition to providing objective, educational content, Hands On stimulates customer need using an interactive approach. Each article includes a clear call to action, such as calling an agent or the Customer Information Center, or accessing the Web to get more information.

Readers can access additional content and Allstate.com tools using a unique URL, which appears at the bottom of each page: www.allstate.com/handson. The landing page provides links to tools, interactive features, and additional content on Allstate.com.

Over 1.5 million copies of the first issue of Hands On were mailed in September and October to test response with different customer segments. In addition to the main version, a special version targeted to priority customers was piloted in Ohio.

Hands On represents one piece of the database marketing strategy designed to deliver consistent growth and profits. Measuring response to marketing efforts like Hands On helps Allstate better understand customer behavior and build a knowledge base that can be used for future marketing efforts.

Hands On's success will be measured by its return on marketing investment, that is, its ability to sell more products than would have sold through existing methods. Database marketing techniques allow Allstate to measure reader response and determine whether specific content spurred additional sales.

The new publication is generating quite a buzz among agencies. "I am very impressed," says James Allegretti, senior account agent. "It makes us look us very professional. It’s one of the best ideas I've seen in the 36 years I've been with Allstate."

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