AIG Uses Broken China to Promote Insurance

Sometimes the best laid plans go to waste. That's exactly what AIG wanted to let their customers know. The target market were individuals who owned collectibles and antiques. The insurance company mailed each member of their target audience a box filled with packing peanuts and an expensive looking antique that was broken. The only other item was a business card with a simple line that read "We insure artifacts, too." Apparently the response rate was only 28% of recipients. Maybe that's because people didn't get it? Did they know that the antique was supposed to be broken or did they think that AIG was attempting to send them a present that happened to get busted. If that was the case then perhaps they didn't feel secure with AIG. Just a thought. I can't attest that the use of other promotional products would have increased response rate or even gained the same media exposure that this promotion did, but I can't help but wonder...