MassMutual launches ‘Why Life Insurance?’ marketing effort on its Facebook page

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

Massachusetts Life Insurance Co. said it is launching a new marketing effort called “Why Life Insurance?” on its Facebook page.

Springfield-based MassMutual said it is looking to raise consumer awareness about its line-up of consumer products at a time when US life-insurance ownership rates are at a 50-year low.

According to MassMutual, “Why Life Insurance?” is its first marketing initiative hosted solely on a social platform. The video content for the campaign was developed in a collaboration between MassMutual and Mullen, a Boston ad agency. (The video with this post is from the campaign.)

The initiative’s message is that life insurance should play a crucial role in a family’s financial planning strategy, MassMutual said. The videos feature children taking control of the discussion by questioning a life insurance agent and quizzing adults on their knowledge of the topic.

One reason that MassMutual opted to use Facebook on the company believes that it is a good forum to generate conversation about what is often an “uncomfortable subject,”MassMutual chief marketing officer and senior vice president John Chandler said in a statement.

MassMutual is using online advertising to drive eyeballs to its Facebook page and the “Why Life Insurance?” videos.