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General Business IssuesTwo Minnesota Health Plans Pitched Their Individual Products at an End-of-Summer State Fair Reprinted from the Sept. 24, 2007, issue of HEALTH PLAN WEEK (formerly Managed Care Week), the industry's leading source of business, financial and regulatory news of health plans, PPOs and POS plans. Two Minnesota insurers say a novel approach at marketing individual health insurance appears to have worked well for them: pitching plans at the state fair. Medica and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota each handed out information about new individual policies aimed primarily at young adults at the annual state fair. The fair, a 12-day event that started on Aug. 23 and ended on Labor Day, attracted nearly 1.7 million people, according to the Minnesota State Fair's Web site. It wasn't the first time at the state fair for either plan, but both say they ramped up efforts this year to pitch individual policies that target specific groups. Neither insurer was permitted to sell policies at the fair, but both were allowed to hand out information about plans. "We thought [the state fair] was the perfect opportunity where we have the target market coming in droves," says Craig Ashby, director of individual products at Medica. The insurer primarily pitched its Solo individual plan, which targets those ages 19 to 29, through T-shirts and bags with such catchy slogans as "before something on a stick makes you sick" and "before the spin does you in." About 20 licensed brokers worked four-hour shifts, in three shifts per day, and about 100 Medica employees took part in the fair, Ashby says. "It's amazing how many people wanted to learn about health insurance at the state fair," he states. "Our brokers were very busy." About 70% of Medica's foot traffic at the state fair involved the Solo plan or other commercial individual offerings; other prospective customers wanted to learn about Medicare products, he says. The brokers received up to 30 leads per shift on potential new enrollees that they later followed up on. Many parents also picked up plan information for their young-adult children, Ashby says. Minnesota Blues Plan Calls Fair a Success The Minnesota Blues plan says it had a booth near a senior-citizens center at the state fair. That proved to be an "excellent location [with] high traffic," says Brian Davis, manager of individual sales. The plan focused on marketing its Simply Blue plan — which is an individual product — launched in January that targets those ages 18 to 30, as well as pre-retirees. "We got a number of people [stopping by] who were seniors," Davis says. "We also had a number of people stopping by and sharing stories" about their experiences with the Simply Blue plan. The Blues plan had a team of about 150 employees who staffed its fair location during six-hour shifts and handed out brochures, Davis says. The plan does not have hard numbers to gauge the success of the effort, but "we know the volume was very, very good because when people call in, they reference the state fair," he says. Davis adds that the Blues plan will likely continue to go to the state fair in the future. "Being at the state fair really enables us to get |
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