Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Gerber Grow-Up

Two invitations to the Gerber Grow-Up life insurance plan arrived last week, one for Eric, one for me. Since the envelopes looked different, I thought I'd do a comparison and see if they were different when aimed at the father rather than the mother.

Mine was pink paper with purple accents. The first paragraph ran, "Caring mothers like you know how important it is to start planning for their little one's future. That's why thousands of moms trust Gerber Life to help give their children a valuable head start. Wouldn't it feel good to know that your child is protected with the lasting financial security of a Grow-Up Plan?" Translation: you want to be a good mother and you want to be part of a community, so buy our product.

Eric's was gray paper with blue accents. The first paragraph ran, "You've been personally selected to receive this special offer...Right now, while your baby is young, you have the opportunity to help provide lifelong protection and a financial head start - for just pennies a day!" Translation: you're special and you want to have a good head for money, so buy our product.

Mine offered rates for "as little as $1 as week." Eric's said "Starting at $3.52 a month." The rates inside were the same, with the "$1 a week" actually being a little high. The terms and application inside were the same, but the website to apply to was different. Mine was www.gerberlife.com/baby, and his was www.gerberlife.com/frame. We figured out this was because mine offered--prominenty on the front--a free gift of a "certificate of welcome." His offered, in small type in one of the secondary fliers, a free gift of a "picture holder."

Mine was a lot longer, and included testimonials and a section on "you can trust Gerber Life." Eric's was very short, almost entirely consisting of a list of financial benefits (which was also present on mine, there was just more fluff around it).

Eric says he's insulted by both of them, but really I think that's just because we saw them side by side. Eric's was a pretty decent, short business letter. Mine was a pretty letter. I'm vaguely interested in knowing what actual market research went into the crafting of these and what is just assumptions about mothers versus fathers.

1 comment:

koalabear100 said...

I see the TV ads all the time. They appear to be aimed at grandparents. I'm insulted too but not because they think I'm a stereotypical old person. I'm insulted because they think they can blackmail me with your children to the point where I'd forget to do the math.