LIMRA is pleased to present the winners of the 2019 Rising Stars in Marketing and Communications. These passionate marketing and communications leaders are helping propel the industry forward by using new and creative marketing approaches and customer experiences at their companies. Learn more about the individual winners below.
Senior Communications Manager
USAA
“Anna has implemented creative, complex communication programs to elevate the profile of USAA, build awareness of the critical need for life insurance and engage our members. Anna was instrumental in the execution of USAA’s first large-scale influencer campaign, which leveraged military financial bloggers and influencers, and celebrity influencers to drive awareness of USAA Life Insurance. The campaign had a potential reach of 24M, generated 18K site visits and directly resulted in at least 51 life insurance applications.” – excerpt from nomination
Senior Communication Consultant
AIG Retirement Services
“During Financial Literacy Month (April), James led AIG Retirement Services communications efforts to increase financial education among employees of the State of Tennessee. His efforts to promote Financial Literacy Month for the State of Tennessee included an omni-channel approach that resulted in unique email open rates above industry average as well as a 25% increase in digital foot traffic across the State’s platforms with AIG Retirement Services.” – excerpt from nomination
Assistant Vice President, Marketing
National Life Group
“Morgan has been able to advance company goals by helping the organization prioritize what we need to do versus what would be nice to do. It's easy for a small company to try a ton of different small marketing activities to see what works, because we are nimble and innovative. He is steering us to stop being a jack of all trades and become a master of one or two that really support the company's goals. He also empowers us to say no to anything that distracts us from our courses.” – excerpt from nomination
Communications Specialist
Canada Life
“As our team pushes to never again sound like an insurance company, Andrea sets the bar high. Her work on several innovative product launches shows it. Pushing our company to use headlines like: "Yup, that's right" and "We're not kidding" and "Don't say no to free money" in our marketing has proven to those hesitant to change that plain language helps connect us with our audiences. Her conversational writing style aligns with our new Canada Life brand perfectly.” – excerpt from nomination
Social Media Manager
Voya Financial
“Caitlin’s development of mini-campaigns and social media plans has led to a number of positive outcomes, including use of social media to supplement broader company communications and marketing efforts (such as Voya’s 2018 Investor Day and its launch of Health Savings and Solutions Accounts in early 2019). Caitlin’s strong focus on enterprise social selling led to a 126% increase in the engagement rate of Voya’s social selling tool in 2018 compared with 2017.” – excerpt from nomination
Assistant Vice President, Life Marketing
Lincoln Financial Group
“Erika has implemented a new process in her team's campaign planning. This new process produced one of Lincoln's most successful campaigns in 2019, "The Living Benefits of Life Insurance," with a 27% open rate. She has also been the largest supporter of an enhanced sales and leadership presence for Lincoln on social media, specifically LinkedIn, where she has driven adoption of social by 258% during the last 12 months.” – excerpt from nomination
Strategic Implementation Manager
John Hancock Life Insurance Company
“Christina lives and breathes the direct-to-consumer customer experience! Her work on bringing a new channel to customer communications via text messaging will enhance the customer experience, improve the retention rate, and increase premium paid due to early payment notifications. Her close work with the Vitality team is critical to providing a strong customer experience in the quickly growing DTC business.” – excerpt from nomination
Team Leader, Brand Equity Unit, Marketing Division
The Insular Life Assurance Company, Ltd.
“Marla was at the center of the effort to come up with a younger and fresher take on Insular Life. Its narrative expressed in a 1-minute video have garnered 6.1M views online. Partnered with a music video, the first to be shot using a 360 degree camera in Asia, these initiatives have strengthened the company’s presence in the digital space. The music video has garnered 1.4M views since its release in January 2019.” – excerpt from nomination
Marketing Supervisor
COUNTRY Financial
“Under Jeremy’s leadership, COUNTRY Financial has doubled the number of our field sales force reps who use our services – 400 in July ’18 to almost 900 in June of this year. With this participation, we will schedule an estimated 40,000 appointments with clients this year. With agent contact, and insurance and financial reviews, clients are likely to feel more financially secure than they did prior to the meeting, as well as more likely to purchase more products.” – excerpt from nomination
Lead Manager, Marketing
AXA Equitable Life
“Using proprietary qualitative and quantitative research, Taryn created advisor and consumer campaigns to promote individual annuity products, explaining to advisors why it is so critical to educate clients about retirement income planning, create plans based on realistic expectations, and determine how an annuity can support the plan. In addition to leveraging consumer research, Taryn also analyzed which advisors Sales and Key Accounts should target and partner with to deliver integrated campaigns.” – excerpt from nomination