AIG are used to rolling out big stars in support of their big sporting sponsorships and the policy worked in Dublin this week when retired double world cup winning All Black Richie McCaw was in town to help shine a light on a new insurance policy aimed at younger drivers.
McCaw signed up to a three year deal as a global ambassador for the brand after retiring following the Rugby World Cup in England last year.
“Working with an ambassador of Richie’s stature provides great opportunities to communicate the quality of our products and services,” said AIG’s Danny Glantz at the time.
“He exemplifies the values that we associate with rugby as well as having specific skills and experience that speak directly to our core products and services.”
Yesterday those specific skills were extended to trying to puc a sliothar across the River Liffey from the roof of the company’s Dublin HQ.
Dublin hurler Paul Schutte was alongside to show the way and there was a strong media presence asking his views on Irish rugby and the possibility of Joe Schmidt ever leaving to take up the All Black manager position.
The photographs made it into met of the national media as well as radio and TV appearances. The product was not front and centre stage but the brand was to the fore and while it is never cheap to bring a circus like that to town, the positioning of the brand as being a major player capable of such a statement works in many levels as a seal of approval, particularly for an insurance brand.
And the Insurance product itself? That’s called Telematics aimed at 21-34 year olds or Generation Y, using technology developed to monitor driver habits. Those who use the tech and display good behaviour get a discount on their insurance of up to 30%.
It’s a decent story in itself but one which has been amplified many times over by introducing it on the shoulders of a giant like McCaw.
