How do you Win a Whopping Three IMCA Awards, Including Best in Show? One Tip: Look Beyond Current Advertising Trends

MCA spoke with Anna Hargis, director of advertising for Shelter Insurance, on her team’s IMCA award-winning projects and where she goes for inspiration.

Insurance Marketing & Communications Association: Congratulations on winning multiple IMCA Showcase Awards, Anna! Your team won an Award of Excellence for your annual report, a Best of Show for a TV campaign, and an Award of Excellence for Creative Development on a Shoestring for your agent bottle wraps. Can you tell us more about these projects?

Anna Hargis: Sure. As you mentioned, we won three awards this year including Best of Show in the TV category. That campaign is really important to Shelter’s agents because it helps them build credibility and awareness in their local communities and online. We’ve received very positive feedback from the agents about the campaign’s message, but to receive an award like this really adds to the overall excitement for our agents and employees.

IMCA: Had you considered other ways to reach your goal before you settled on this one?

AH: With two of the three awards we received—TV campaign and annual report—we knew what we needed to accomplish. With the Creative Development on a Shoestring, our water bottle wraps were a solution to agent requests. We considered a variety of options and then found this one and it’s been extremely popular.

IMCA: Were there any hurdles you had to overcome while working on this project? 

AH: The TV campaign came together very smoothly for us, with the exception of some weather issues for our outdoor shoots. The Annual Report was pretty smooth as well, and once we settled on an approach, the water bottle wraps exceeded all our expectations.

IMCA: I wish all of our projects went that smoothly! Switching gears: What made you decide to enter the Showcase Awards?

AH: Through the years we have found IMCA to be a terrific resource for us. We recognize that the awards program is a great way to support IMCA and see some of the innovative and exciting projects other companies are working on. It’s also a nice way to boost the internal teams who work on these projects. 

IMCA: How did winning the award impact your team?

AH: The team loves winning—especially a Best of Show Award! We enjoy pushing ourselves and looking for new and innovative options for future campaigns. Receiving industry recognition for those efforts is a real boost for our team.

IMCA: How will you push the envelope in 2021? 

AH: We’re trying some new things, but you’ll have to wait for the next awards. We don’t want to ruin the surprise.

IMCA: Fair enough. We’ll eagerly await next year’s entries from Shelter. In the meantime, do you have advice for other marketers/communicators who are looking for better ways to break through the clutter?

AH: Look beyond current advertising trends for creative inspiration. I enjoy art, reading, visiting museums, and spending time in nature to reset and reenergize. These activities can lead to some great creative inspiration.

IMCA: Great advice. Thanks for that, and for talking with us, Anna. 

AH: My pleasure.