The Marketing Conference 2018
Reinventing the Journey
May 30, 2018 – June 1, 2018
Hyatt Regency Baltimore, Baltimore, MD
Financial services professionals in all areas of marketing – product, consumer, producer, digital, and strategy – as well as research and consumer insights and communications, advertising, and branding.
As marketing strategists, you help drive the creation of new and innovative marketing and tools to support business objectives. The content of this year’s conference is aligned to reflect the evolving customer-centric market. Our tracks include:
- Digital Initiatives
- Consumer Insights
- Customer Experience
- Marketing Strategy
To add to the excitement and buzz at The Marketing Conference, LIMRA is proud to sponsor the 2018 Creative Connections Award — recognizing creative excellence, innovation, and achievement in holistic financial services marketing. Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners will be recognized at a special awards ceremony at the event.
Join your peers and industry experts in Baltimore at The Marketing Conference 2018 — Reinventing The Journey!
Bookmark this page as information becomes available in the coming months!
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Jeanne Bliss
Founder and President, CustomerBliss
Co-Founder, The Customer Experience Professionals Association
Jeanne is one of the foremost experts on customer-centric leadership and the role of the Chief Customer Officer. A consultant and thought leader, Jeanne Bliss guides C-Suite and Chief Customer Officer clients around the world toward earning the right to business growth and prosperity, by improving customers’ lives. Jeanne pioneered the role of the Chief Customer Officer, holding the first ever CCO role at Lands’ End, Microsoft, Coldwell Banker and Allstate Corporations. Jeanne is also the author of Chief Customer Officer, I Love You More than My Dog: Five Decisions that Drive Extreme Customer Loyalty in Good Times and Bad, and Chief Customer Officer 2.0.
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Debra Jasper, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO
Mindset Digital
As founder and CEO of Mindset Digital, Debra Jasper applies her deep passion for powerful storytelling to helping professionals communicate with clarity and impact in an age of eight-second attention spans. Jasper has given talks to more than 50,000 professionals around the world, from Utah to Ukraine. Today, tens of thousands of professionals are enrolled in her firm's highly visual online training courses in selling, communicating and leading in a digital world. Jasper’s experience includes launching the first social media fellowship for journalists in the country — working with CNN, 60 Minutes, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and other top newsrooms. Before becoming CEO of Mindset Digital, she spent more than a decade as an award-winning investigative journalist. Jasper has two journalism degrees, and earned her Ph.D. from the The Ohio State University, where she wrote her dissertation on the art of powerful storytelling.
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Brent Korte
Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer
Ameritas Life Insurance Corp.
Brent Korte is senior vice president and chief marketing officer at Ameritas Life Insurance Corp. His role includes making customers and employees feel awesome about every interaction they have with Ameritas. This responsibility involves functions like marketing, customer experience, analytics, digital, communications, community relations, and innovation. Before joining Ameritas, Korte spent over 20 years in the financial services industry with companies across the country including LPL Financial, BlackRock/iShares, T. Rowe Price, Principal Funds, and Washington Mutual. He has won numerous industry awards in advertising and marketing communications. Outside of work, you’ll find Korte on the board of directors for Ameritas Investment Corp., the Lincoln Chamber Economic Development Corporation, and the Lied Center for Performing Arts.
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Michel Neray
Author, Master Practitioner of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)
Michel has helped thousands of individuals craft and perform ‘purposeful’ stories to become more effective leaders, salespeople, coaches, teachers, trainers, speakers, and influencers of all types. He also uses Purposeful Storytelling to more effectively differentiate, position and brand organizations in the market. Michel combines a science degree from the University of Waterloo, an MBA from McGill University, and a career as a creative marketing copywriter, advertising agency director and marketing executive. A visionary and entrepreneurial game-changer, he created the world’s first online searchable directory of creative professionals (in 1995, before Google). Michel co-authored The Great Crossover, which made it to Jack Canfield’s Achiever’s Recommended Reading List. He has spoken at conferences in more than eight countries worldwide and founded momondays in 2012 as a monthly variety show that combines storytelling, comedy and live music. ‘momondays’ has since expanded to more than 12 cities.
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Sean F. O’Donnell, LLIF
Vice President, Member Relations & Consulting
LIMRA
O’Donnell is responsible for developing and implementing LIMRA’s member-engagement strategy in the U.S. and Canada. He leads a team of professionals dedicated to helping member-company executives and their teams fully leverage the research, member benefits, and commercial solutions available through the LIMRA division of LL Global. In addition, he is responsible for leading LIMRA’s consulting business, working to help companies apply LIMRA’s research and industry expertise to develop strategies for growth. Sean brings more than 25 years of marketing, sales, research, and organizational and consumer-behavior experience to his current role. Over the course of his career at LIMRA, O’Donnell has worked with companies in all sectors of the insurance and financial services industry on a variety marketing, distribution, and product-related initiatives.
Early Bird Registration Fee:
Member: $1,250
LOMA Member (but not LIMRA): $1,875
Nonmember: $2,500
After May 1, 2018:
Member: $1,450
LOMA Member (but not LIMRA): 2,175
Nonmember: $2,900
Cancellation Policy
All cancellations must be received in writing. Notify customer.service@limra.com. Cancellations received before May 9, 2018 will be refunded, less a $75 processing fee. Cancellations received from May 9, 2018 to May 23, 2018 will be refunded, less a $275 processing and administrative fee. No refunds will be issued after May 23, 2018.
In the event that a scheduled meeting or event is cancelled by LIMRA for any reason, LIMRA shall refund any conference registration fees that have been paid by the registrant. Under no circumstances, however, shall LIMRA be liable to the registrant for any other expenses including, but not limited to, airfare and hotel expenses incurred by the registrant.
WEDNESDAY, MAY 30, 2018
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1:30 pm - 2:00 pm
FIRST TIMERS' ORIENTATION
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2:00 pm - 2:30 pm
MEET AND GREET
2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
GENERAL SESSION
Transformation Starts at Home
More than ever, marketing organizations are taking on the responsibility to help companies innovate. Often, that requires transformation of capabilities within their organizations. From the digital imperative to mining deep insights and analytics, marketing teams are moving and working very hard through the change curve that our industry is going through. However, what often gets overlooked are the associates and imbedded culture within the company that might struggle with change and innovation. Where do you start? You start at home, with a strong focus on your culture and your associates. Educating them on the "why" and then moving to the "how" for innovation and transformation.
3:30 pm - 4:00 pm
BREAK
Sponsored by Inside Response
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4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
- 1. Using Emerging Technology to Enhance the Consumer Experience
Justine Lynch, Digital Development Manager, American National
Moderator: Katie Piretti, Director, Digital Development, American National
The
customer journey is evolving through emerging technologies in areas such as the
Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence. We’ll learn how advisors and
marketers can use some of these new tools to simplify and personalize
interactions, resulting in increased engagement and a more meaningful and
positive experience with your company.- 2. Send in the Anthropologist! Advisory Research for Impact
Behzad Sarmadi, Ph.D., Resident Anthropologist, Great-West Life
Moderator: Rita Lepore, Senior Client Analytic Specialist, Great-West Life, London Life, Canada Life
In the midst of fintech innovations in
financial advice, the inter-personal work of financial advisors and why many
customers still seek it out has sometimes been neglected. Anthropological
research with financial advisors can offer insights that correct this.
- Learn
what in-depth qualitative research of financial advice can offer.
- Learn
about the tools and techniques used in such research.
- Learn
about when this research is most useful, and how to deploy it.
- 3. Stop Confusing Me: Keep it Simple with Content Strategy and Plain Language
Jeffrey Greer, Ph.D., Associate Director, Content Strategy, MRM/McCann Detroit, Vice Chair, The Center for Plain Language
Moderator: Vivian Elba, Senior Marketing and Communications Project Manager, The Hartford
In today’s always-on, always-distracted digital world, we struggle
to reach our customers. And when we do, we’re speaking to them using language
driven by internal policies and politics. And customers just don’t understand.
In this session, we’ll look at examples of plain language transformation and
find out how to more effectively communicate with our customers. Attend this
session, and you’ll be able to:
- Look at your content from the perspective of your customer
- Understand how plain language fits into your content strategy
- Get people in your
organization aligned around creating content that’s right for your customers.
- 4. Financial Wellness Matters
David Flores, Vice President, Sales and Marketing, MoneySteps
John Steber, Vice President, Customer Solutions, Voya Financial
Jeffrey Tulloch, Vice President and Head of PlanSmart, MetLife
Moderator: Ann Freeman, Executive Director, Marketing, Trustmark
When you
Google financial wellness you receive 3,220,000 results in 0.47 seconds. Are
you trying to figure this out too?
- In corporate America what does Financial Wellness
really mean and what do we do about it?
- Get a holistic perspective from MetLife
and Voya
- Ask the experts to see what
is right for your organization and what you can do
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5:30 pm - 6:30 pm
LIMRA WELCOME RECEPTION
THURSDAY, MAY 31, 2018
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7:00 am - 5:00 pm
REGISTRATION
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7:00 am - 8:00 am
BREAKFAST
8:00 am - 9:00 am
GENERAL SESSION
Would You Do That To Your Mother?
How Would Your Company Act if Every
Customer Were Your Mom?
Customers crave the same gentle treatment, simple directions and honorable behavior that our mothers demanded of us. By taking a minute to pause, review, and consider your actions through the “Mom lens”, you give yourself a powerful tool to think differently about your approach to customer experience, whether that’s your company’s return policy, its social media presence, its big picture CX strategy, or its frontline customer service. By converting ‘frustrated Mom moments’ into ‘make Mom proud’ moments, and exploring some of the companies who defy regular business practices to build bonds with employees and customers, this inspirational session will challenge your thinking and prompt you to re-evaluate your own CX practices, focusing on key areas such as enabling employees to deliver value, being a joy to do business with, designing experiences to enable customers to achieve their goals, and establishing customer trust.
9:00 am - 9:30 am
BREAK
Sponsored by EverQuote
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9:30 am - 10:30 am
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
- 5. Harness the Power of Facebook Advertising!
Ryan Hurley, Director of Media and Analytics, The Archer Group
Moderator: Robert Bonsall, Head of Social Media, Penn Mutual
Most
advisors have embraced LinkedIn.
However, advisors and corporate advertisers can up their social gains
with a Facebook Business page, a modest budget, and a thoughtful Facebook ad
strategy. Learn from an interactive
agency pro:
- Why Facebook
advertising matters.
- What to promote
and how much to spend.
- Who to target and
how to reach prospects and clients on social.
- How to measure the results.
- 6. The Secrets to Leading an Effective Marketing Team
Katie Bartling, Associate Vice President, Marketing Communications, Sammons Financial Group Member Companies
Jodi Beehler, HR Consultant, Organizational Development, Sammons Financial Group Member Companies
Moderator: Melissa York, Senior Marketing Specialist, The Standard
As
the millennial wave continues to grow in the workforce, now more than ever,
employee engagement is a hot topic. Marketing
team effectiveness is especially impacted by employee engagement because of the
fast-paced, ever-evolving marketing landscape.
- Discover how to get the most from your marketing team & keep them engaged
along the way
- Learn actionable ways to keep your team motivated in a fast-paced environment
- Understand what drives the different generations in the workplace & how to
promote a team-work mentality
- 7. Managing Customer Experience - It's Not Just About the Numbers!
Sybil Covell, Director, Client Experience and Retention, Western & Southern Life
Moderator: Todd Silverhart, Ph.D., LLIF, Director, Insurance Research, LIMRA
As efforts to become more customer centric continue to mature, there is much interest in understanding how to actually manage the customer experience (Cx). This is particularly true when it comes to the insurance industry where historically there have been onerous processes for obtaining the product and limited engagement through the product lifecycle.
- Learn about recent LIMRA research focused on how companies are addressing customer experience.
- Find out how Western & Southern Life introduced a Cx measurement approach to their organization.
- Hear about the evaluation process, successes, the brutal facts, and how measuring customer experience is more than focusing on the numbers.
- 8. Using Data to Create Relationships and Drive Marketing
Munir Pathak, Senior Data Scientist, Life.io
John Wilson, FLMI, AIRC, ACS, Director, UCONN Center for the Advancement of Business Analytics (CABA)
Moderator: Natalie Barenthin, GBDS, Senior Marketing Research Analyst, Anthem Life
The landscape for marketing life insurance has
changed rapidly. We all know this. Potential consumers are embracing
technology, challenging brokers to adapt and forcing us to rethink how to reach
the un- and underinsured. In this talk, we will give you a window into how
we’ve approached solving this problem – through data collection, analysis, and
the application of those insights. Learn how data has helped us build brand
loyalty, an engaged user base, and a space where we can connect personally with
our customers.
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10:30 am - 10:45 am
BREAK
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10:45 am - 11:45 am
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
- 9. Innovation Station - Part 1: Igniting Innovation with Design Thinking
Aimee Bernardo, Director, Strategic Innovation, Guardian Life
Sravan Muthiraj, Head of Design Thinking, Guardian Life
Moderator: Angela Meehan, CLU, ChFC, Vice President, Corporate Marketing, Ohio National Financial Services
Join our speakers for this interactive session on innovation. Hear about Guardian’s innovative journey, including how they generated numerous ideas, but were not quick to bring them to market. Today, Guardian is using design thinking to quickly innovate, prototype, test and launch new ideas. In this session, you will participate in a design thinking exercise, during which you will share and hear experiences from your peers.
- 10. Digital Breadcrumbs: Storytelling that Connects and Converts Across Platforms
John Sisson, President, HBT Marketing
Moderator: Mathew Nelson, Marketing Consultant, MassMutual
One of the hardest parts about marketing is getting people to pay attention. Particularly with all the digital channels, you write copy for landing pages, you pump out videos, and you're telling stories all over social media. Yet, you're not entirely sure who's listening. Imagine if you could create content that generated enough loyalty for your customers to follow you anywhere... including across platforms? Come prepared to discuss your company’s story
- 11. Big Data Meets Shotguns and Pickups
Michael Patterson, Ph.D., Director of Research Analytics, Radius Global Market Research
Glenn Staada, Senior Vice President, Radius Global Market Research
Moderator: Steve Wendorf, Director of Marketing, Catholic United Financial
For years, segmenting your market audience into discernable groups has been a tried and true marketing strategy. Further, in VOC surveys it’s possible to identify and profile those customers who are more and less satisfied. However, in today’s budget conscious environment, is that good enough? What if you could take customer groups and sub-segment them into even smaller more distinct groups based on needs, attitudes, satisfaction levels, etc.? With big data tools you can.
- 11.2 Acquiring Local Market Share: Tactics to Outperform Online and Direct Competitors
Shane Closser, Head of Industry/General Manager for Financial Services at Yext.
Brent Plow, Director of Digital Risk and Compliance, Proofpoint Digital Risk
Consumers are visiting 11.7 resources online before purchasing an insurance plan. Buying patterns are becoming non-linear and agents that are empowered to take control of their digital presence will be able to adapt quickly to local market changes. This session will share new models to win in the increasingly local agent landscape, and research that will help streamline compliance and mitigate risk for brands, agents and ultimately the customer.
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11:45 am - 1:00 pm
NETWORKING LUNCH
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- Luncheon
- Creative Connections Award
Platinum, Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners of the LIMRA Creative Connections Award will be announced during this special awards ceremony. This award recognizes and rewards marketing and creative excellence, innovation and achievement, and highlights best practices in financial services marketing.
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1:00 pm - 1:15 pm
BREAK
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1:15 pm - 2:15 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
- 12. Innovation Station - Part 2: Insights Into the Transformative Journey
Gautam Kumar, Assistant Vice President, Product Management, Haven Life
Moderator: Laura Hahn, Director, Customer Insight and Engagement, Guardian Life
Discover how Haven Life, an innovator in providing term life insurance simply and easily online, evolved from quick start-up to a scalable provider that’s capturing interest across the industry! Gautam Kumar, Assistant Vice President, Product Management with Haven Life will share insights and best practices from his experiences at Haven and other large financial service enterprises on how to make innovation and transformation a reality through strategic clarity, precise yet nimble execution, and an incessant focus on building the critical mass necessary to earn or unlock the next stage of the life-cycle.
- 13. Social Data Insight: Meaningful Metrics to Get More for Your Money
Kara Burney, Senior Director of Marketing, TrackMaven
Moderator: Janet Holton, Marketing Associate, Modern Woodmen of America
Social
platforms are ubiquitous and the marketing spend has never been higher. How do
you wade thru the mountains of unending data and connect everything? How can
you construct meaningful metrics to get more for your money? Learn how to use the ready-made tools at your
disposal and other techniques to make your metrics—bottom line positive. This
session will help you:
- Communicate the
appropriate metrics to management
- Move beyond vanity
metrics
- Pay attention to
metrics that are actionable
- Leverage
competitor data to improve your results
- 14. Reinventing Illustrations to Improve Customer Experience
Kimberly Anderson, CLTC, LTCP, FIC, Manager, Life Product Research and Consulting, Individual Product Solutions Group, Securian Financial Group
Patrick Harper, CLU, ChFC, FLMI, ACS, Director, Product and Concept Marketing, Penn Mutual
Krista Stevens, Sales Development Strategist, Ameritas Life
Moderator: Melissa York, Senior Marketing Specialist, The Standard
This session will share how marketing can help make illustrations more appealing to clients. We will review several competitors’ illustrations who have started to make their illustrations more user-friendly, eye appealing and some cases replacing marketing materials. We will also show some software companies that are helping create illustrations to track metrics, create follow-ups and even forecast sales.
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2:15 pm - 2:30 pm
BREAK
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2:30 pm - 3:30 pm
CONCURRENT SESSIONS
- 15. Personal, Memorable, Unique Experiences - Storytelling's Place in Finance
Dave Sheridan, Vice President, Managing Director, Brokerage Distribution, Protective Life
Moderators: Katie Bartling, Associate Vice President, Marketing Communications, Sammons Financial Group Member Companies; Ashwin Kumar, Senior Consultant, Marketing Management, Nationwide; Michelle Woods, Vice President, Life Marketing, Protective Life
How can building a compelling and memorable
story shape marketing strategy that drive business results? This session will help you understand
- The importance of storytelling and its impact on decision-making
- How
storytelling has proved effective across industries to drive differentiation,
profitability, and sales
- Why
emotional storytelling is critical for your marketing strategy and brand
identity
Come hear
real-world case studies and testimonials from your peers during the interactive
session.
- 16. SEO in 2018 - Top 8 Traditional and Trending Tactics
Amanda Ochoa, Digital Advertising Specialist, American National
Moderator: Janet Holton, Marketing Manager, Modern Woodmen of America
2018 will be an interesting and exciting year for SEO. As search engines, technologies and the customer journey are constantly changing, SEO continues to evolve. To help stay ahead of the game in 2018 we’ll dive into the top traditional SEO techniques that are still effective, and look at the most prominent trends that are gaining momentum. You’ll leave this session knowing key elements specific to the insurance industry that can help deliver maximum SEO success in today’s ever-changing environment.
- 17. Navigating the Journey to Become a Social Business
Amy McIlwain, Global Industry Principal, Hootsuite
Moderator: Robert Bonsall, Head of Social Media, Penn Mutual Life
Disruptive technologies and changing customer demands are driving fundamental transformation of the insurance industry. While social media is just one driver of this change, it's an important one. So how is the industry responding? Join financial social media expert and bestselling author, Amy McIlwain, as she delivers the results of Hootsuite's global research, which surveyed over 300 financial services professionals with responsibility for social media strategy. In addition, she will chat with Rob Bonsall, the head of social media at Penn Mutual, to discuss the evolution of their field social media program. In this session, you can expect to hear:
- Best practices from global peers on leveraging social media to drive revenue
- How peers are implementing social strategies in a highly regulated, mature industry
- Actionable steps to use social media to unify your client’s journey from prospect to customer to advocate
- How Penn Mutual utilizes social media across multiple teams
- 18. Future of Distribution and Its Impact on Marketing
Patrick Leary, LLIF, Corporate Vice President, Distribution Research, LIMRA
Mathew Nelson, Marketing Consultant, Client Marketing, MassMutual
Moderator: Krista Stevens, Sales Development Strategist, Ameritas Life
In this session, we will discuss the evolution of advisor distribution and the impact it will have on marketers. There are many changes in today’s marketplace that could affect the way companies sell products. Technology and regulation are two of the main driving forces as well as the empowered consumer. Leveraging new research conducted by LIMRA and EY, this session will explore key trends happening across the distribution landscape and how some companies are taking steps to thrive with the change. Come to this session to explore the link between marketing and distribution, and learn how marketers should be thinking futuristically in their go-to-market strategies.
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3:30 pm - 4:00 pm
BREAK
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm
GENERAL SESSION
The Power of Purposeful Storytelling
It is well-established that stories are more memorable and powerful than facts and statistics. Stories are the basis of leadership, coaching, influence, teaching, sales and team culture. From the beginning of time, stories are how we have passed on our values, made sense of the world and effected change. Today, it's how we influence our customers, our teams and audiences. Combining exercises in NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming), classic story-telling, stand-up comedy, improv, acting and professional speaking, Michel will help you strategically develop signature and turning-point stories to motivate, inspire, and influence team members, customers and audiences in the most engaging and powerful way. He will include case studies, testimonials and conversational stories to support sales and brand positioning.
FRIDAY, JUNE 1, 2018
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7:30 am - 8:30 am
BREAKFAST
8:30 am - 9:30 am
GENERAL SESSION
Beyond Digital: Competing in an Automated World
Debra Jasper, Ph.D.
Founder and CEO
Mindset Digital
Mobile, custom, fast and easy. That's what it takes to meet the demands of today's digital consumer. But recognizing this isn't nearly enough. This fast-moving session examines the:
- new customer journey
- impact of AI, charming chatbots and virtual assistants (think Lemonade, Crystal and GrapeVine6)
- rise of digital lending (Underwrite AI, alternative data, predictive analytics)
- shift to an every touchpoint matters culture
To survive, legacy industries such as insurance must adapt -- fast. We'll connects the dots, illustrating how new technologies and automation are driving customer expectations and innovation.
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9:30 am - 10:00 am
BREAK AND EXHIBITOR RAFFLE
10:00 am - 11:30 am
GENERAL SESSION
Continuing the Journey: The Evolution and Elevation of Marketing
Heighten your awareness and reinvent your thinking around marketing’s role in this changing customer centric environment. Learn how to evolve from a Marketing department to a powerful discipline leading strategy and innovation across companies. Roll up your sleeves with LIMRA’s Vice President, Sean O’Donnell, and your peers as you uncover new perspectives that may be the game changer you are looking for.
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11:30 am
ADJOURN
If you receive any unsolicited or suspicious email or phone call about a hotel booking in conjunction with this meeting, our advice is not to click on it, but delete the email immediately. In the case of a phone call, never give out your credit card information. Our designated conference hotels will never call you unless you contact them first.
Hyatt Regency Baltimore
300 Light Street
Baltimore, MD 20202
Phone: 410-528-1234
Book your group rate
Reservations Phone: 800-233-1234 (mention 2018 LIMRA Marketing Conference)
Make your reservations by May 1, 2018 to receive the group rate of $219 single/double (plus applicable sales taxes). Requests after May 1 will be accepted based on space availability. The group guest room rate will be offered 3 days prior and 3 days after the meeting dates subject to availability.
Please note that hotel rates will go up after the cut-off date or when the meeting room block sells out, whichever comes first. Make your reservations early to be able to take advantage of our discounted rates.
