Thursday, February 18, 2010

7528: BHM 2010—Nationwide.


Another sign of the times: Nationwide Insurance presents a BHM campaign created by its White advertising agency. The White guys wound up producing a concept as corny contrived as anything a Black agency might have concocted.

Nationwide unveils Black History Month work from general market agency McKinney

Nationwide Insurance last week unveiled a program for Black History Month that, according to a press statement, “encourages consumers to get on line to share, build and capture important family history in celebration of the rich heritage and legacy of the African American family.”

“Nationwide continues our commitment to support the African American community,” said Mark Hara, vice president for Nationwide. “The Nationwide Family Heritage Tree Web site allows each member of the family to input data, build their family tree, add photos, input facts about their heritage and invite others to share.”

The Black History Month campaign was created by McKinney, Nationwide’s advertising agency of record which it retained for general market creative work less than a year ago. Most recently, Nationwide had assigned the Carol H. Williams agency to handle its African-American targeted campaigns, but that assignment ended in 2009. The company has also worked with the Matlock Advertising and Public Relations firm.

Nationwide, which according to TNS Media Intelligence, spent $228 million in media ad expenditures in measured media, has not yet selected a successor agency to CHWA.

The statement said that the “Family Heritage Tree Web site (www.nationwide.com/familytree) is a resource for visitors to share data and stories with other family members, allowing for two-way interaction to help build a more robust and complete family history. It also provides an opportunity for family members to add comments and work together to create their family tree.”

“We are excited to launch this campaign on the first day of Black History Month,” said Hara. “We hope families will use this web tool as a way to honor their past, share stories amongst family members and build their family history for themselves, and their children.”

Also Nationwide says it is helping to support the UNCF through a partnership with Pandora.com. During Black History Month, Nationwide will have two branded stations available on Pandora, the popular personalized and free internet radio service. Nationwide will donate $5.00 to UNCF for each one of the first 6000 visitors who listen to either one of the two Nationwide branded radio stations on Pandora.

“We’re pleased to partner with Nationwide, to give them a truly innovative and creative option that facilitates their financial contribution to the UNCF and delivers discovery and joy to those who get the chance to listen to the great music on the Nationwide branded stations.” said Pandora’s chief revenue officer John Trimble. “Pandora’s multi-platform advertising solution, combined with our breadth of demographic knowledge about our listeners, ensures that our partners, such as Nationwide, will have their campaigns seen—and heard—by their ideal target audience who are listening to internet radio.”

The Heritage Family Tree Web site can be accessed through the end of the year.

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