Aflac's New Site Drives Interactivity With Bold Design, Humor
Aflac (Columbus, Ga.) has taken a page from its slapstick duck commercials in its Web site redesign. The supplemental insurance carrier has eschewed the staid and conventional in favor colors and fonts as bold as the broad humor of its commercials to engage and educate consumers and businesses about its products.
The revamped site, according to an Aflac press release, relies on engaging content, videos and animated images of the notorious Aflac Duck to "entertain and inform." The site features what Aflac characterizes as a clean and intuitive organizational structure, with sections tailored to the specific needs of consumers, business decision-makers, brokers and prospective agents.
Created by a new Aflac media team in partnership with New York-based companies Firstborn and The Kaplan Thaler Group, the revamped aflac.com encourages visitor participation as users click through and advance to the next page within each site section, according to the Aflac source. In addition to the tools and information found within the site, the homepage provides visitors with the opportunity to manage their own accounts, connect to and interact with the Aflac Duck on Facebook and Twitter, find an agent and obtain claim forms.
Among the site sections and highlights are the following:
Individuals: This area attempts to shows how Aflac's policies complement those offered by major medical insurers. For example, an interactive slot machine activated by visitors lands on different daily expenses — such as gas, groceries and bills — to demonstrate how money from Aflac can be used. This section also includes a video testimonial (or what the site calls "duckumentary") from a real family that shows how Aflac helps protect loved ones from the potentially devastating financial effects of illness or injury.
Businesses: Aflac.com aims to demonstrate the ease with which the insurer's policies are administered and how supplemental coverage can help attract and retain employees. It also shows employers how they can make Aflac insurance available to their workforces at no direct cost to their businesses, according to Aflac. A proprietary calculator shows business decision-makers how their companies can benefit from the tax advantages of making Aflac products available through cafeteria plans, while an interactive puzzle demonstrates the ways Aflac complements existing benefits.
Brokers: This section uses interactive experiences with the Aflac Duck in an attempt to illustrate how easy it is to do business with Aflac and how much clients appreciate the company's value-added services.
Become an agent: Geared to prospective members of the Aflac sales team, this section attempts to show how the company's strong support system promotes business success. An interactive "growing tree" represents what Aflac calls its "deeply rooted values"; agents can help the tree grow by clicking on a virtual seed.
Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio
Tweet This