MassMutual Launches New Life Insurance and Retirement Advertising Campaign

MassMutual Financial Group has launched an innovative new advertising campaign, "Front of the Mind," that helps consumers move beyond just thinking about their financial future and actually taking action to begin meeting their financial goals.

The campaign, created by Mullen of Wenham, Mass. consists of four television commercials as well as a consumer and trade-oriented print and online campaign. The campaign demonstrates the company's understanding of the real, practical issues consumers face when it comes to life insurance and retirement, and positions MassMutual as the company that helps consumers take the steps that are right for them.

New Life Insurance and Retirement Television Commercials

The television commercials, which will run during high profile national sports events, national prime time and early morning slots, as well as on national cable and online, take viewers on a whimsical journey through the average person's mind. Each journey is about the thoughts that may occupy the back and the front of the mind, like "I'm hungry" or "World travel," and shows how MassMutual can help people move life insurance and retirement to the front of the mind, often much to the surprise of the other thoughts. In each of the four spots MassMutual provides practical examples of how it can help people take the next step that's right for them, closing with its new tagline, "We'll help you get there(SM)."

"These ads do not try to scare people into action or entice them with visions of yachts, vineyards and vintage sports cars. Most consumers actually resent scare tactics and they simply don't believe the fantasies," said Edward Boches, chief creative officer, Mullen. "This campaign is based on the simple fact that people generally know they need to financially prepare for their future and MassMutual can help them realize the difference between thinking about it and doing something about it."

Life Insurance and Retirement Print Ads

The campaign's six consumer print ads, which will begin appearing in national magazines and newspapers-including The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Money, Newsweek, Cookie, Martha Stewart Living, Working Mother and National Geographic-build on the same theme as the television ads by featuring illustrations of people representing retirement and life insurance priorities overcoming barriers to move to the front of the mind. Each ad encourages consumers to visit http://www.MassMutual.com/GetThere to help them realize the difference between thinking about their life insurance or retirement needs and actually getting there.

About MassMutual

MassMutual Financial Group is the fleet name for Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual) and its affiliates, with more than $450 billion in assets under management at year-end 2006. Assets under management include assets and certain external investment funds managed by MassMutual's subsidiaries.

Founded in 1851, MassMutual is a mutually owned financial protection, accumulation and income management company headquartered in Springfield, Mass. MassMutual's major affiliates include: OppenheimerFunds, Inc.; Babson Capital Management LLC; Baring Asset Management Limited; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers LLC; MML Investors Services, Inc., MassMutual International LLC and The MassMutual Trust Company, FSB. MassMutual is on the Internet at http://www.massmutual.com.

About Mullen
Mullen is a full-service agency and an independent brand within the Interpublic Group of Companies. Mullen's client portfolio includes General Motors, XM Satellite Radio, Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts, Stride Rite Children's Group, Royal Ahold, Turner Broadcasting System, LendingTree, Match.com, Ask.com, Gifts.com, T.J. Maxx, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Sealy, The Stanley Works, Wachovia, Sprint-EMBARQ(TM), MassMutual, Panera Bread and Orbitz. Headquartered in Wenham, Mass., the agency operates offices in Winston-Salem, N.C., Detroit, Mich. and Pittsburgh, Penn. For more on Mullen, visit http://www.mullen.com.

Do You Need Life Insurance?

Obviously the first question that you need to ask and answer is whether you even need life insurance. The best way to save money is to not buy life insurance, if you don't need it. So how do you determine if you need health insurance. Well you will need to ask you self some questions to determine if life insurance is right for you:

Long Term Concerns

The following questions will help you determine if you need life insurance to cover and long term needs and expenses of your family and loved ones:

1. How many people depend on your income?
   If you have nobody that is dependant on your income and earning capacity then you probably don't need life insurance. (If you answered none to this question, then skip down to the short term concerns to determine if you need life insurance to cover any short term needs.)


2. How much would your dependents need to cover living expenses?
   There are several ways to determine this value, but the easiest is to start with amount of income that you bring home. From this amount, subtract the amounts from public sources (i.e. Social Security benefits) and all private insurance plans that already provide coverage (i.e. employer funded plans) Next subtract the liquidation value of any property that they would inherit from you. You might also consider subtracting other likely sources of income, such as the help reasonably affluent grandparents would provide for your children in case of disaster (but only do this if you are sure that this assistance would actually be available.)


3. How long would it take your dependents to become self-sufficient?
   If your children are older and are almost out of college, they may not need much additional income. If your children are younger, remember that dependent spouses caring for young children can usually return to work at some point when determine the length of time your family needs income.

Short Term Concerns

The following questions will help you determine if your family has any short term needs and expenses that would require life insurance:

1. What assets would be available to take care of your dependents' immediate financial needs?
   You will need money in joint or pay-on-death bank accounts, or place marketable stocks in joint tenancy or register them on beneficiary (transfer-on-death) forms in order to provide you family with immediately available funds on your death.


2. Will your estate owe substantial debts and/or taxes after your death?
   If your estate has mostly "non-liquid" assets (real estate, collectibles, a share in a small business, jewelry), there may be a significant financial loss if these assets must be sold quickly to raise cash to pay bills, as opposed to what they could be sold for later if there had been enough liquid money from insurance or other sources to meet all pressing bills. Obviously, if your estate has significant funds in bank accounts or marketable securities, you won't need insurance for this purpose. Federal estate taxes won't be due until nine months after death, so cash to pay them doesn't have to be immediately available.

Welcome to the Life Insurance Guide

This Life Insurance Guide blog was created to provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision about life insurance products and to hopefully help you save money on your life insurance needs.

So why should you even worry about life insurance? Well life insurance is a safety net for your family in case you were to die prematurely. If you were to die you would want your family to be financially secure in your absense. So unless you are already very wealthy, you probably need life insurance.