State Farm Corporate Marketing Executive Sean Kingsbury shares insights into how the insurer builds brand trust during this week’s Rotary meeting. Kingsburygrew up in Sycamore and is the son of Rotarian Past President Paulette Renault.
Sean Kingsbury, Marketing Executive for State Farm at their Bloomington, Illinois headquarters, gave Rotarians a lesson in brand strategy during this week’s meeting. Kingsbury said the goal of their campaign is to build brand trust for their various insurance products. He noted the use of actors like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito, plus Kevin Miles who portrays company representative “Jake” in commercials, all have appeal to certain market segments. He said the same goes for famous sports figures who appear in their commercials. He said they all carry the message of “why we can be someone’s trusted insurance company.”
Kingsbury said it is important to have one’s brand strategy clearly understood. He gave the example of automaker Kia which has transformed itself into a more luxury brand while offering vehicles that are basically the same as Hyundai. He said data shows that during a recent general vehicle sales slowdown, Kia was able to keep selling their cars at a premium while makes like Hyundai were forced to offer price cuts.
Kingsbury offered some marketing tips for Rotary. Praising the organization’s service and humanitarian efforts locally and around the world, he said it is important to keep this brand identity at the top of everyone’s mind. He said that means regularly sharing the Rotary story through social media, newsletters, and personal invitations for people to attend Rotary events. He said just like State Farm, Rotarians should always be looking for opportunities to explain “who we are and what we do.”
March 24, 1874 – Magician and escape artist Harry Houdini is born in Budapest, Hungary.
March 26, 1911 – American playwright Tennessee Williams (author of such works as The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof) is born in Columbus, Mississippi.
March 29, 1867 – Baseball pitching legend Cy Young is born in Gilmore, Ohio. He holds the major league baseball record for most career wins; 511.
March 30, 1853 – Famed post-Impressionist Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh is born in Zundert, Netherlands.
March 24, 1989 – One of the largest oil spills in U.S. history occurs when the oil tanker Exxon Valdez runs aground in Prince William Sound off the coast of Alaska. More than 11 million gallons of oil leak into the water stretching along 45 miles of shoreline.
March 25, 1911 – A raging fire erupted inside the Triangle Shirtwaist Company in New York City leading to the deaths of 123 women and 23 men. The tragedy spurred national attention to labor working conditions and resulted in legislation improving factory fire safety rules.
March 28, 1979 – At 4 AM, one of the worst accidents in the history of the U.S. nuclear power industry began when a pressure valve in the Unit 2 reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania failed to close. Cooling water, contaminated with radiation, drained from the open valve into adjoining buildings and the unit’s fuel core began to overheat. Fears of a core meltdown that could release radiation and sicken area residents led to more than 100,000 people fleeing nearby towns. Slowly the reactor core cooled and no one outside the plant had exposure to adverse levels of radiation, but the incident greatly eroded the public’s faith in nuclear power.
March 30, 1981 – President Ronald Reagan survives an assassination attempt by John Hinckley after being shot in the left lung; his press secretary, James Brady suffers permanent brain damage after also being wounded.
Birthdays & Club Anniversaries
Member Birthdays
Alicia Cosky
September 1
Riley Oncken
September 1
Steven Kuhn
September 3
Larry Sill
September 10
Ray Dembinski
September 13
William Fairchild
September 14
Join Date
Sejal Patel
September 2, 2015
9 years
Paul Barnaby
September 8, 1979
45 years
Ahmed Kamel
September 11, 2005
19 years
Brendan Wilson
September 29, 2021
3 years
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 2024-2025
President – Steve Wilder
President Elect – Jonelle Bailey
Director (President Nominee) – Becky Springer
Director (President Designee) - Matt Nelson
Past President – Brandon Diviak
Treasurer – Dr. Michele Jurkovic
Secretary – Pat Shafer
Sergeant at Arms – Paulette Renault
Monthly Committees
July: Board of Directors
August: Brandon Diviak, Jeff Keicher, Pat Shafer
September: Dave Hamilton, Jeff Jacobson, Jim Stoddard
October: Paul Callighan, Matt Nelson, Paul Stromborg
November: Sue Emberson, Jeff Frank, Phil Meyer
December: Larry Berke, Ray Dembinski, Riley Oncken
Fellowship: Paulette Renault, Larry Berke, Sue Emberson, Dave Hamilton, Pat Shafer
Foundations:Paul Stromborg, Jim Buck, Sue Emberson, Matt Nelson, Jim Stoddard
Membership: Jonelle Bailey, Ray Dembinski, Brandon Diviak, Bob Hammon, Jeff Jacobson, Steve Kuhn, Phil Meyer, Matt Nelson, Riley Oncken, Jeff Petersen, Bob Wildendradt
New Generations: Chip Houdek, Julie Sgarlata, Becky Springer, Steve Wilder
Public Image: Bob Brown, Paul Callighan, Jeff Keicher, Joyce Klein, Tasha Sims
Scholarships:Tim Neubert, Don Clayberg, Ray Dembinski, Michele Jurkovic, Steve Kuhn, Julie Sgarlata
Service: Brandon Diviak, Alicia Cosky, Jeff Frank, Michele Jurkovic, Rob Mondi, Tim Neubert, Brendan Wilson
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