Ohio Casualty Group Takes 'Initial' Brand Step

The Ohio Casualty Group of Insurance Companies, based in Hamilton, OH, has introduced a new name, logo and theme line as part of its new corporate brand identity. The identity is being officially unveiled on television commercials that will air this week during hit shows such as "ER" and the season finale of "Seinfeld" in the Cincinnati, OH and Denver, CO markets.

OCG, or Ohio Casualty Group, is the new marketing entity for the Corporation, which is among the top 50 property and casualty insurers in the country. Ohio Casualty Corporation common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Stock Exchange under the symbol OCAS.

The new identity includes a redesigned logo (See below) and a theme for the advertising campaign, which will also include radio and print ads in Cincinnati and Denver. The decision to take a different, high profile marketing stance was based on extensive customer research over the last year by the Company's Marketing Dept.

"When people think of insurance, they have certain needs and expectations," explains vice president of Marketing Bill Minor. "The key is to zero in on those factors and address them. We've worked hard on that over the last six months or so--talking to our policyholders and consumers at large. What we've found out is that people have a whole shopping list of things they'd like to find in an insurance company."

"Ohio Casualty Group has a tremendous set of resources to offer consumers. We have innovative products that set us apart from other insurance companies, and we do a lot of things very, very well. What we haven't done is step up and tell the Ohio Casualty Group story to the world. We have a limited public image on a national basis. That's about to change."

The ads were created by Bernie Washington and Bill Daniel of Washington Daniel Advertising, Inc. in Chicago. The duo created "The Silver Bullet" for Coors almost 20 years ago before forming their own agency.

The initial campaign in Cincinnati and Denver will extend to nine additional markets in September. The theme, "Protect What's Yours," hinges on a uniquely positive advertising approach. "There are no car crashes, burning houses or other disasters in our ads," Minor adds. "That makes us an exceptional voice in the industry."

"People want to take care of the things they've worked hard for and that means choosing an insurance company that works as hard as they do," says Kelly Sprague, advertising manager. "We believe our track record for outstanding service and go-the-extra-mile products make us that company. Insurance ads almost never focus on products, but our products are so innovative we talk about them in our advertising."

In Cincinnati, the television commercials will begin airing May 14. Tentative commercial slots for the local NBC affiliate include "Best of Seinfeld " (8:18 p.m.), the "Seinfeld" season finale (8:58 p.m.), the "ER" season finale (10:28 p.m.) and "The Tonight Show" (11:56 p.m.). Cincinnati affiliates of ABC and CBS will also air the commercials in various evening time slots.

New radio commercials will begin running in May on Cincinnati stations WEBN, WUBE/WYGY, WVMX, WKRQ and WLW (Cincinnati Reds). Print advertising from the new campaign will appear in Cincinnati regional editions of Time, Newsweek and People.