Top Insurance Advertisers, Communicators, Market Researchers Headline 2008 Insurance Marketing and Advertising Summit

OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A.M. Best Co.’s Insurance Marketing and Advertising Summit 2008, set for Nov. 6 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York City, will feature presentations from national insurance marketers, media experts, researchers, crisis consultants and others.

The conference will open with Steven Schreibman of Nationwide. Schreibman will take attendees inside the making of some of Nationwide's best-known marketing and advertising campaigns, including its "Life Comes at You Fast" series, which features celebrities such as Fabio and Kevin Federline.

Other presenters include:

• Ansis Vallens, Principal, Signals & Strategies. Vallens will discuss the issue of “reputation management” and how insurance organizations are integrating that within their overall enterprise risk-management programs.
• Chris Winans, Senior Vice President, AXA-Equitable. Winans now heads the life organization's media relations and communications, and formerly helped coordinate AIG's media relations during its most challenging period.
• Gary Kimball, President, Kimball Communications. Kimball has served crisis-management roles for several financial services organizations, including banks and insurance companies.
• Jeremy Bowler, Director, J.D. Power and Associates. Bowler will present new J.D. Power research into what drives personal insurance customers to shop.
• Nancy Carini, marketing director for Conning & Co. Conning, a long-time financial management firm known for its deep research, has undergone a complete rebranding in order to better communicate its position within the insurance industry. Carini will describe that effort and explore how to reach the insurance industry.

Additional speakers and topics will be announced shortly.

Registration for the 2008 IMAS event is $249. Members of the Insurance Media Association or the Insurance Marketing and Communications Association can register at their organizations' Web sites at a discount.

For conference details and a registration link, visit www.ambest.com/conferences/imas.

To view video of coverage of last year’s Insurance Marketing and Advertising Summit, visit www.ambest.com/multimedia/imasvideo.html.

For speaker inquiries, contact Lee McDonald at (908) 439-2200 ext. 5561 or lee.mcdonald@ambest.com.

Founded in 1899, A.M. Best Company is a global full-service credit rating organization dedicated to serving the financial and health care service industries, including insurance companies, banks, hospitals and health care system providers. For more information, visit www.ambest.com.