In this two-part series, PEMCO Insurance CMO Rod Brooks shares insights into how a regional insurance company sustains brand conversations with an unexpected strategy.

In the Northwest, everyone knows the guy who sports a pair of sandals with a pair of wool socks.  Around here, there are certain quirks that set the people of this corner of the country apart from other regions.

That’s the sentiment at the center of PEMCO Insurance’s award-winning “We’re A Lot Like You. A Little Different.” advertising campaign, which features more than 50 tongue-in-cheek descriptions of people frequently spotted around the Northwest, including the ever-popular Sandals and Socks Guy.

Just last week, PEMCO added five new Northwest Profiles to the mix, which were welcomed with fanfare from across the region.  And despite its nearly five-year run, the campaign continues to ring true for many of our friends and neighbors.  In fact, in December 2011, Seattle Magazine named it the “Best Local Ad Campaign We Never Tire Of.”

To get here, we developed a detailed branding strategy rooted in a series of decisions all brands can (and the smart ones do) make, which has helped pave the way for our campaign’s success.

Today, I’m going to tell you about two of those decisions.

Decide to listen. Long before any Northwest Profile came to life, we knew we needed to build a strong foundation of primary research to help inform our strategy.  We partnered with an independent researcher to conduct more than 100 in-home interviews to determine what resonates with Northwest residents. As we talked with our Northwest neighbors, we learned that local people like doing business with local companies.

Decide to be affected by what you hear. We developed a marketing strategy based on differentiating ourselves from national competitors on our ability to be hyper-local.  But it wasn’t enough just to say that we’re local, we needed to show our customers that we know them in ways that others don’t, proving our localness in credible ways.

For PEMCO, that meant using many of our engagement channels, including traditional advertising, to talk about the people who live here instead of insurance. That stance took a lot of courage: courage to take a smart risk, be bold and table the topic that’s central to our business operations.

These decisions are just half of the puzzle.  In my next post, I’ll share ways that smart brands can decide to act on what they hear to connect with their customers in meaningful ways.

About PEMCO Insurance

PEMCO Insurance, established in 1949, is the Northwest’s largest locally based personal-lines insurer, providing auto, home, boat, life, and umbrella insurance to Northwest residents. The Seattle-based company sells personal-lines insurance through community agents throughout the region and through PEMCO offices. For more information, visit www.pemco.com.

Rod Brooks is vice president and chief marketing officer of PEMCO Insurance and is immediate past president of the WOMMA board of directors. Follow him on Twitter.