Campaign: "Benefits Explained" Explained

Few things are more satisfying than seeing your brain-child make it to the public. This is precisely what happened when Symetra launched Benefits Explained. Let me explain:

Symetra’s primary brand differentiator is our commitment to clarity and ease, but that message often lived in abstract language. The marketing team needed a campaign that could clearly demonstrate this value proposition in a tangible, accessible way.

As part of a department-wide contest to surface a campaign concept that embodied this differentiator, I set out to translate “clarity” from a brand promise into something audiences could actually see and feel.

Concept Development

My campaign was simple, because Symetra keeps it simple as well. The premise involves taking more complex topics in the world of financial services, a vertical with a lot of jargon and regulation that is daunting to the average person, and simplify them with a personable explanation. I presented my concept to the entire marketing department, and won in a landslide, with 90% of the votes going towards my campaign.

To kick off this campaign and bring it to life, we decided to start with the workforce benefits division inside of Symetra.

From there, I collaborated closely with stakeholders in the Benefits division to:

• Identify the most critical information to communicate

• Refine key messaging to eliminate jargon

• Shape scripts that were concise, approachable, and actionable

The creative direction centered on:

• Short-form video

• Plainspoken language

• Clean visual systems

• Straightforward storytelling

Every creative choice was filtered through one question: Does this make the information easier to understand? One insight gleaned from this process is that the more work we put in now, the easier it is for our viewer to understand. The many conversations with our compliance and copywriting team were all worth it in the end.

Execution

Once the concept was approved, I led the production process end-to-end in collaboration with our multimedia team.

This included:

• Hiring and coordinating on-screen talent

• Assisting with lighting and camera setup

• Supporting production logistics

• Leading post-production, motion graphics, and editing

• Maintaining brand visual consistency throughout

Beyond production, I also partnered with our social media team to align on upload cadence, social media thumbnails, and distribution strategy to maximize reach.

This ensured the campaign was as strategically deployed as it was well produced.

These videos can still be viewed on Symetra's Instagram:

Benefits Explained: Critical Illness

Benefits Explained: Hospital Indemnity

Benefits Explained: Symetra Health

Results

• ~600,000 views across three campaign videos

• Successful internal adoption of the concept as a proof-of-differentiation model

• Strengthened alignment between brand promise and audience-facing execution