Following the launch of a new reverse mortgage commercial featuring Tom Selleck, American Advisors Group (AAG) is seeing performance that is better than any other ad they’ve had in the past.
The commercial is doing better than all of its previous commercials by about 30% to 40%, explains Teague McGrath, chief marketing officer at AAG.
“We were expecting a slow build [from the commercial] and were expecting it to take a while to find its legs, but we’ve been blown away,” says McGrath. “We are amazed at how well it’s performing.”
In the new commercial, which is arguably the most cinematic reverse mortgage commercial featuring a spokesman to date, Selleck isn’t talking down or lecturing to the viewers, explains McGrath.
“Baby boomers have been pitched to their whole lives and they’re fatigued of that,” he says. “This is the fresh approach and gives the viewers the respect that they know how to figure it out.”
AAG tracks and monitors every commercial spot closely to see how many leads are coming in from which stations, locations and time slots. For the month of August, AAG is already at 180% of its monthly lead goal. The company has actually had to pull back on the number of leads they are following up because they aren’t able to keep up with the amount of leads coming through, McGrath shares.
Selleck brings a sense of trust and credibility to the industry because he has never been known to do endorsements. “There was the initial challenge to get him on board and he’s also a pretty quiet guy who doesn’t do this type of stuff, but after six months of him learning about reverse mortgages, he was on board,” says McGrath.
Juggling Selleck’s busy acting career around shooting the commercials is also something that comes into play, since he does spend seven months a year in New York shooting Blue Bloods. But, AAG has made it work and plan to release a new commercial featuring Selleck next week.
“The next commercial will focus on the ‘three legged’ approach to retirement, which usually includes savings, Social Security and a pension, but the fourth leg will be a reverse mortgage,” McGrath says. “Following the second commercial will be a third, but more traditional spot that focuses on home and the memories that are associated with staying in your home.”
AAG is working with a producer who has years of movie experience, so the sleek cinematic feel and the high-quality production will continue throughout all future company TV ads.
Written by Alana Stramowski
