REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 3, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. and John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. today announced they have signed a multimillion-dollar agreement to make John Hancock the premier life insurance sponsor on the MSN
™
network of Internet services. The two-year deal is the first of its kind in the insurance industry.
Beginning in early 1999, Hancock will receive brand exposure across MSN.com, MSNBC, the MSN Expedia
™
travel service, the MSN HomeAdvisor
™
online real estate service, MSN MoneyCentral, MSN Hotmail, MSBET, the Underwire
™women’s online entertainment and information magazine show, and the Slate® online magazine. The agreement also includes accommodations for collaboration in ad research and implementation of new advertising technologies.
“While agents, brokers and other in-person sales are important to us, we want to give consumers a choice and provide them with access to John Hancock products in as many places as possible,”
said David D’Alessandro, Hancock president and COO.
“The Internet is a growing and powerful purchasing medium, and we want to be the first life insurance company that people think of when they go online.”
The relationship helps Hancock remain a leader in the direct purchase and sale of insurance and investment products and is a logical extension of its direct response enterprise. For Microsoft, the deal signifies continued momentum in generating advertising revenue for the recently revamped MSN, following significant deals with search providers and a credit card company.
“Leading companies like John Hancock understand the value of MSN as they look to promote their brand to the highly qualified consumers who spend time online,” said Charlotte Guyman, general manager of Microsoft® online sales and marketing.
“We think Hancock’s significant investment in the network reinforces MSN as one of the pre-eminent distribution points on the Web, especially when added to our recent deals with FirstUSA and the premier search providers.”
Hancock’s award-winning banner campaign, Silhouettes, will run on MSN. It features pull-down financial planning tools focusing on different topics such as planning for college, savings, retirement and asset protection.
“We’ve been aggressively expanding our online presence to complement our other distribution channels,”
said Kathleen Graveline, senior vice president of John Hancock’s alternative distribution.
“And because Microsoft properties attract 40 percent of Web traffic, the sponsorship will significantly expand our reach and provide access to a highly desirable audience. We’re taking insurance industry marketing and distribution to an entirely new level.”
John Hancock
John Hancock uses the Internet to build its brand, market insurance and investment products, provide financial information and tools, and, increasingly, to provide customer service. It accomplishes this through a corporate Web site ( http://www.jhancock.com/ ), banner advertising and alliances with online quote services.
In business for more than 135 years, Boston-based John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance Co. is one of the nation’s top 15 life insurers. The company and its subsidiaries provide a wide
range of financial products and services and have more than $116 billion in assets under management.
Microsoft Online Sales and Marketing Team
The Microsoft online sales and marketing team offers online advertising, sponsorship and marketing opportunities within the MSN network of services. The integration of Microsoft’s portal site and best-of-breed Internet services into a cohesive network establishes MSN.com as one of the most visited sites on the Internet. In addition to this broad consumer reach, MSN properties deliver a highly qualified audience to businesses, helping them achieve their sales and marketing goals. The Microsoft online sales and marketing team’s offerings include sponsorships of content and service segments, banner ads, promotions, cross-network packages and rich media advertising.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
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