Spokescats and Dogs Share Why They Love Having Physicians Mutual Pet Insurance

Full-service marketing and advertising agency Intermark Group has developed a series of ads for Physicians Mutual to announce the launch of its pet insurance, Physicians Mutual Pet. Physicians Mutual is a national provider of health, life and retirement products. 

Physicians Mutual Pet joins the company's existing products, including Medicare Supplement, dental, life and supplemental health insurance along with coverage for funeral pre-planning.

The broadcast, digital display, and social media campaign features testimonials from six spokesdogs and two spokescats who have used the insurance. The campaign features eight 30-second videos - one with each pet relaying its story - as well as eight :15s and eight :06s. The broadcast is running in local markets in eight states and will expand to cable and all 34 states where the insurance is available with time. The web ads will run nationally.

In an anthem ad Physicians Mutual brand spokesdog Eddie, a three-year-old border collie from Omaha, Nebraska, introduces the seven new characters, who relay their own individual vet-visit testimonials and explain how Physicians Mutual Pet insurance saved the day. Lucy the yellow lab puppy talks about her first ‘owie,’ eight-year-old Buster relays his passion devouring squeaky toys, and Butterbean the hypochondriac cat muses on the many injuries and illnesses he could encounter on any given day.

Pet insurance began in the US in 1983, when Lassie, the star collie of the TV show, became the first dog to have pet insurance. Today, nearly four-million cats and dogs are insured in the US. More pet parents are securing pet insurance as routine veterinary care, treatments and overall pet health costs continue to rise. According to the North American Pet Health Insurance Association, pet insurance in the US has increased at an average annual growth rate of 21.6 percent over the past five years alone. Cats with pet insurance continue to experience a higher growth rate; yet, dogs make up the majority of all insured pets in the US.