T H U R S D A Y ,   J A N U A R Y   2 6 ,   2 0 0 6

Trusted Choice® to Kick Off 2006 Advertising |  Take the AUGIE Technology Survey |  Team Building Workshop |  What Markets Do You Need? |  Progressive Chairman Wins Leadership Award |  Big "I" Katrina Relief Fund |  Past President Bill Bailey Honored | Industry News

T R U S T E D   C H O I C E ®
Trusted Choice® to Kick Off 2006 Advertising

The Trusted Choice® agency brand program is revving up for its 2006 nationwide advertising activities, which kick off Feb. 1 and include an Internet ad campaign on www.homestore.com and the return of Trusted Choice Month in May.

Highlights this year are two national cable TV ad flights—one in March and the other during Trusted Choice® Month in May; Internet ad flights in February, May into June and July; targeted business-to-business (B2B) advertising; and a Washington, D.C. metro-area ad flight timed to coincide with the Big "I" National Legislative Conference & Convention in late April. Additional advertising activities scheduled for September to the end of the year will be announced early this summer.

Television advertising begins in March with a two-week ad flight of 54 spots. Trusted Choice® Month, a month-long campaign to spotlight Trusted Choice agencies, will boast nearly 250 nationwide television ads during the two-week flight as well as an Internet ad flight that will further drive consumer awareness of the brand and its participating agencies. Click here to view the May ad schedule; click here to see the March ad schedule.

The Trusted Choice® Month ad flight, running from May 1 through 14, will feature ads on Fox News, CNN, ESPN, Fine Living Channel, Food Network, Home & Garden TV (HGTV) and the Travel Channel. Ads airing from March 13 through 26 will run on ESPN, Fox News and HGTV. These networks best reach the Trusted Choice® target audience: college-educated adults, ages 35 to 64, with household income of $75,000 or more.

Next month’s www.homestore.com campaign will reach consumers as they make home-buying decisions related to financing, insurance and moving. HomeStore.com is the Internet’s most-visited real estate Web site, drawing more than 7.5 million unique visitors monthly and 7% of all monthly Internet traffic.

Last year’s five-week ad campaign on the Web site generated consumer awareness of the Trusted Choice® brand and its participating agencies by reaching nearly 81 million consumers and generating more than 74,000 clicks to www.TrustedChoice.com, where more than 16,000 consumers clicked on the Trusted Choice® Agency Locator.

Your can tie your agency’s advertising plans into each of these nationwide ad activities by downloading tag-able TV, print and radio ads from www.TrustedChoice.com and running them in your agency’s marketing area. Each tag-able ad explains the benefits of using your Trusted Choice® agency and reserves space for adding your agency’s name, contact information and logo.

Your local advertising campaign will give your agency twice the exposure for a small investment and help establish your agency as the Trusted Choice® for local insurance and financial services consumers.

Go to the "Agents/Brokers" area of www.TrustedChoice.comand click on "Advertising" to view and order or download the tag-able ads and to learn how to conduct local TV, radio and print advertising campaigns.

Additionally, Trusted Choice is producing a series of new tag-able ads that will continue the "Ways to Choose" theme. These new marketing materials will be available soon.

If you need your agency login information click the "forgot your password" link on the "Agents/Brokers" sign-in page. For more information, contact Jeff Myers at jeff.myers@iiaba.net.

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A C T
Take the AUGIE Technology Survey

It’s not every day you get the opportunity to tell carriers and vendors what you need to do your job better, so make time to take the AUGIE Agency Technology Survey. The ACORD-User Groups Information Exchange (AUGIE) recently launched its benchmark survey, and IIABA and ACT encourage independent insurance agents and brokers and their employees to participate in this important industry initiative.   The survey is available now through March 1. For more information, click here. Results will be announced in May at the ACORD LOMA Insurance Systems Forum in Las Vegas, Nev., in time for carriers and vendors to plan for 2007 and beyond, and will be publicized broadly within the industry. Please complete the survey and encourage other members of your staff to do the same so that it gets good results from each of the functional areas within agencies. Taking this survey is a modest time investment compared with the impact it could have in improving our efficiency and effectiveness. To access the survey, click here.

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N A T I O N A L   L E G I S L A T I V E   C O N F E R N C E   &   C O N V E N T I O N
Team Building Workshop

Best Practices agencies and effective leaders know they can achieve dramatic results when a dynamic and effective team is in place. These results include higher productivity, less turnover and fulfilling agency objectives, plans and goals. Join in this interactive and fun teambuilding adventure, where participants will be encouraged to build trust, think strategically, play to each other’s strengths, manage limited resources and handle minor conflicts. The session ends with a business exercise and some goal setting "take-aways." Each participant will leave the session not only with a deeper commitment to the concept of teamwork, but also with a specific, step-by-step action plan on how to support team efforts in your office. This workshop is on Friday, April 28. For questions about the workshop, contact Madelyn Flannagan at 800-221-7917; madelyn.flannagan@iiaba.net. To register for the 2006 Big "I" NLC & Convention, click here.

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B I G   " I "   M A R K E T S
What Markets Do You Need?

Big "I" Markets, the online market access program available exclusively to Big "I" members, needs your input. Though 2005 was a banner year for Big "I" Markets, the goal for 2006 is to continue to add products to the system that the majority of Big "I" members need, and we need your assistance in prioritizing what markets to go after. The only way for us to know what those markets are is to find out from you! Please take five minutes to complete a simple product development survey. At first glance the survey may seem long, but in reality, it’s quite easy to complete. All you have to do is check boxes to indicate if you need that market. You also will have the opportunity to write in products/markets that the survey may not ask about. Some markets—like access to property markets in coastal areas—are already known problem areas, so they are not included in the survey. You do not need to be a registered Big "I" Markets agents to take the survey, though we encourage you to complete the free registration process at  www.bigimarkets.com so that your agency may access the suite of already available products. Click here to take the survey.

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I N D U S T R Y   N E W S
Progressive Chairman Wins Leadership Award

Peter B. Lewis, chairman of Cleveland-based Progressive, was recognized this week by the St. John’s University School of Risk Management, Insurance & Actuarial Science in New York with the 2005 Insurance Leader of the Year award. The award is given to an individual who has either had a lifetime of achievement in the insurance industry or has made exceptional contributions to the field during the specific year of the award. Industry leaders praised Lewis’ great strides with Progressive and his impact on the way the insurance industry does business. Past winners include Brian Duperrault, chairman of ACE Ltd., John Sinnott, retired chairman and CEO of Marsh Inc., and Paul Ingrey, chairman and CEO Arch Worldwide Insurance and Reinsurance Group.

I I A B A   N E W S
Big "I" Katrina Relief Fund

The annual Big "I" staff golf event raised $3,700 for the Big "I" Katrina Relief Fund. The Fund has awarded grants to more than 70 applicants from the Gulf Coast insurance community and has amassed more than $400,000 in the fund from more than 470 contributors. The Big "I" Katrina Relief Fund grants have helped many individuals and businesses devastated by Hurricane Katrina in Mississippi, Louisiana and Alabama, and there are plans to award more grants to those in need. The Big "I" donated $100,000 to the relief fund, and coupled with the generous contributions of insurance carriers (Safeco Insurance, Zurich Insurance, OneBeacon Insurance, Allstate Insurance and Encompass Insurance), agents, brokers, Big "I" staff and state associations, the Big "I" Katrina Relief Fund is making a meaningful difference in the lives of many in the insurance community.

To donate to the Big "I" Katrina Relief Fund, make checks payable to "Big ‘I’ Katrina Relief Fund" and mail to:

Big "I" Katrina Relief Fund
c/o InsurBanc
10 Executive Drive
Farmington, CT 06032

If you prefer to contribute via credit card, click here to access the Big "I"   Katrina Relief Fund site. The Big "I" Katrina Relief Fund has 501(c)3 status, so all contributions qualify as charitable contributions and are tax deductible, to the extent permitted by law. For more information, contact Emily Crane at 800-221-7917; emily.crane@iiaba.net.

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Past President Bill Bailey Honored

Bill Bailey, founder of Bailey Insurance & Financial Services in Waco, Texas and past president of IIABA (1990-1991) was honored at the agency’s 50th anniversary reception. Wes Bailey, Bill’s son and president of the agency, presented a check to Baylor University to establish the Bill Bailey Endowed Professorship of Insurance & Risk Management in Baylor’s Hankamer School of Business. Baylor offers students a business degree in insurance and risk management. Bill Bailey received the Drex Foreman Award from the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas in 1990, and the Woodworth Memorial Award from the Big "I" in 1993.

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