Omaha, Neb.-based insurance company Physicians Mutual is launching its first U.S. branding campaign, committing its entire seven-figure national television budget to the new Animal Planet series Last American Cowboy.
Per terms of the deal, Physicians Mutual will serve as presenting sponsor of the unscripted series, which begins today, June 7. Along with a custom open and wrap, the client will be featured in a co-branded 30-second spot that will air on Animal Planet throughout the show’s eight-week run.
The tune-in invites viewers to draw associations between Cowboy’s steadfast, hard-working Montana cattle ranchers and the Physicians Mutual brand. Against a backdrop of Western iconography—barbed wire, howling wolves, dramatic lightning strikes—a voiceover speaks to “the value of a steady hand in rough times.”
In order to drive viewers to the series, tune-in information and Animal Planet branding will appear on some 17 million Physicians Mutual mailers.
Animal Planet won the account in a jump ball with CBS and National Geographic Channel. The deal was orchestrated by Minneapolis agency Preston Kelly.
