Saving You Money For Life

Since this story is out of Cleveland, it’s quite likely that the marketeers who came up with the idea know not what they hath wrought. Still, it’s worth recognizing the resurgence of packaged testosterone that sold a zillion records for the Village People back in the ’70s.

Health insurance company United Healthcare is counting on make-believe mountain climbers to convince mostly men who may be watching football games at bars or shopping at home improvement stores that buying health insurance is a good idea.

It’s a “guerrilla marketing” strategy the UnitedHealth Group Company, based in Minnetonka, Minn., is trying in Cleveland and Chicago, hoping for more direct contact with a target market of the working uninsured between 35 and 54. The new marketing effort relies on teams of people dressed as mountain climbers – bright red uniforms, helmets and other safety gear – to make a pitch to those without insurance.

The idea is to equate the safety equipment a mountain climber uses with the safety net provided by health insurance. The program is called Belay, a name derived from a term used in climbing to indicate a rope is secure.

In a campaign that started in mid-November and runs through February, marketing teams decked out in climber motif, including ropes, go to places such as sports bars, stadium parking lots and home improvement stores. They are promoting a health plan with premiums of $78 to $109 per month and a health savings account that could be used for deductibles.

Between the outfits and items the crews are handing out, such as bottles of water, the goal is to get people to come to them so that the crew members can initiate conversations about whether they have health insurance.

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