Telling two stories at once - and succeeding

How do you clarify the connection between a sustainable local community and insurance company refunds?

The banking and insurance company Länsförsäkringar Älvsborg (LFÄ) aims to be a leader in sustainability in the Älvsborg region in southwestern Sweden by 2025. The brand awareness is already strong. But they also wanted to build the brand, using the benefits of being customer-owned and having a local presence and what that means for both individuals and the community.

So, in an annual campaign, Länsförsäkringar tells how much money the customers – who are also owners – get back as refunds. In 2022, LFÄ also wanted to communicate its local social sustainability initiatives supporting several children’s and youth activities. Spoon’s task was to develop a concept and produce a campaign that weaved both parts together; the refunds communication linking to a more general sustainability communication.

The refunds are an LFÄ characteristic. And the fact that the customers invest in the business and get money back is a form of sustainability and circularity. LFÄ also focuses on circularity in its social sustainability work. The company is present and invest in the local communities where they operate and work to prevent losses, damages and injuries and to build the local community.

Which meant that the campaign could come together around the idea of giving back, of reinvesting. Spoon developed a concept based on two threads: text-based and image-based. For the first one, we used the words “reinvestment” and “refunds” together and made both stand out. The second one was based on the social sustainability work and the people benefitting from these investments. Here, we also used the body texts to say that LFÄ is owned by its customers. This way, both areas – refunds and sustainability – were weaved together.

Spoon created all the material for the campaign – photographs, films, texts, and graphic design. We visited three initiatives that LFÄ sponsors, where we interviewed, photographed, and filmed participants and leaders. This material was then used for all parts of the advertising campaign, including print ads, outdoor advertising, and commercials for television and YouTube ads. In addition to the advertising campaign, text and video cases were produced for the LFÄ website. In total, the campaign comprised 56 different content pieces.

After the campaign, we measured it. It showed that 62 percent (benchmark: 47 percent) had observed the campaign. Two out of three persons also noticed that LFÄ was the sender. The main message most remembered was the refunds, but also that you benefit from being a customer and that LFÄ is active in social sustainability and supports local associations and companies, all in line with the campaign targets.

Of those who had observed the advertising but are not yet LFÄ customers, 34 percent (benchmark: 24 percent) stated that their chance of becoming an LFÄ customer had increased. No less than 10 percent of have become LFÄ customers after the campaign.

On Facebook and Instagram, the advertising target was to maximize reach. And the clickthrough rate (CTR) shows that the content was relevant. The CTR was higher than the average Facebook and Instagram reach campaigns.