One vintage ad and one of my biggest regrets: Marketing and a 1950s Wausau insurance ad

I was inspired to write this article following the post, W-A-U-S-A-U, by Michael L. Parker, publisher of the Black Sales Journal.

If you visit my home, you will find a single piece of advertising proudly displayed on my office wall -- a reproduction of the historic 1954 Wausau Insurance train depot ad (a version shown below). I didn't create it. I'm not an ad history buff. I am not from Wausau. And it happened many years before I was born. But it's importance to me is bigger than any single sales or marketing project I've ever worked on. The vintage Wausau Depot ad reminds me of how an amazing small town in central Wisconsin re-calibrated a "city boy's" view of my profession and simultaneously serves as a reminder of one of my biggest regrets ... that motivates me every day.

Fifteen years ago, I was offered a position as the Director of Marketing for Wausau Insurance with the mission of rebuilding its historically significant brand. I was flattered that I was selected and overwhelmed with enthusiasm for the challenge. The unfortunate reality could not have been further from my anticipated mission, as the wheels were already in motion to eliminate the Wausau brand. Its future was already determined before my first day and, with a heavy heart, I would eventually have a hand in dismantling it. Brands do come and go every day, but Wausau wasn't your ordinary brand, and its path to obscurity will always personally haunt me. There was a love and connection there that I could not ignore - in part because I passed their office many times as a child and it signaled we had "almost" reached the Northwoods of Wisconsin, and in part because I love the story of a hard-working underdog that completely changes the game.

Most young sales and marketing professionals don't know Wausau Insurance; but perhaps it's time you were introduced? Aside from this ad's pure beauty as art (both the visual and the copy), below are a few key reasons why a vintage Wausau Depot ad from the 1950s inspires me and can inspire you as well:

1) The Wausau Depot ad legitimately ignited a change to a societal norm

Back in 1954, Bob Gunderson, then Advertising Director, didn't know what he was creating. Or maybe Bob knew, but he certainly didn't know the enduring effect his work would have on his company and a small town in central Wisconsin. At the time, Wausau Insurance was in a fierce competition with Sentry Insurance, located to this day just down I-39 in Stevens Point, as well as numerous big-city insurance companies.

When the original Wausau Depot ad was created in coordination with Chicago-based commercial artist Everett McNear and with poetic copy from J. Walter Thompson copywriter Ed McAuliffe, it changed a societal norm: Big companies were based in big cities, and you wanted your company to do business with big-city companies. Anyone else just didn't get it. All the action was in the city. All of it.

Wausau wasn't a big city - maybe 20 to 30-thousand residents at the time. It was the polar opposite of New York, Boston, or Chicago. It's in the direct center of Wisconsin and is the gateway to Wisconsin's majestic Northwoods. I like to say it's two hours from anywhere, but Bob Gunderson and team explained it a bit more eloquently. They took advantage of Wausau's rural location and made it a strategic advantage, using it to make the ad truthful and draw you in: "The fishing's good near Wausau. It's only a stones throw to where the deer run." Poetry. The ad brilliantly finishes with a simple and honest belief that people in central Wisconsin are "Good people to do business with." This ad debuted opposite the editorial page (the money page for old-school print advertising) in the Saturday Evening Post in Milwaukee in January 1954. The ad ignited Wausau Insurance, and the company would flourish for decades. It ignited exceptional growth, became the rallying cry of employees, and created an identity for an entire community for over 50 years! Marketing done exceptionally well has a lasting positive effect on perceptions.

There's a small bar and restaurant in Wausau called the Hiawatha that sits along the railroad tracks on the east end of town and looks out at one of Wausau's original train depots. The location was frequented by Mr. Gunderson (or so I was told). I'd go there after work on occasion with my friend and Wausau Insurance graphic designer, Jon Stein, for liquid inspiration. It grounded me. It made sense.

There's a certain sense of simplicity about great marketing. The train depot that became known around the country sat just a few hundred feet from the Hiawatha's front door. I'd imagine that Bob's inspiration came over a bourbon from an earlier generation of bar stool not too far from mine. The train depot was true to the company, true to the town, and true to the message: hard-working and honest. Good people. Too often in business I think we try to be what we are not, rather than staying true to who we are and want to be. Yet, clients and customers have an uncanny ability to figure out real from fictitious. Wausau was 100% authentic. Great ideas come from simple conversations. It doesn't need to be complicated. And inspiration is all around you--and often right in front of you. 

2) The Wausau Insurance brand became bigger than the investment and gave a national face to a small-town community

What started with the Depot print ad grew into a nationwide campaign. In it's glory years, Wausau Insurance was the primary advertiser on a newly-created television news series to be called "60 Minutes." With only a modest budget, Wausau put an awful lot of confidence into one, start-up show. As 60 Minutes took off, so did Wausau. The placement on 60 Minutes proved a perfect match - as 60 Minutes was the show of choice for business leaders. The result was that the Wausau ads, such as the famed spelling bee ad, gave this small-town community a nationwide identity. If you were from Wausau, it was hard to go anywhere without someone reciting one of Wausau's ads back to you. You were a bit of a celebrity. You were part of something. And when marketing is done right, that "something" is contagious. NOTE: For many years, in the Wausau Advertising Department hung a single photo of Morley Safer, Mike Wallace, Ed Bradley, Lesley Stahl and Steve Kroft. The show's executive producer, Don Hewitt, inscribed, "Without the support of our friends at Wausau, our clock might have stopped ticking."

You could argue that Wausau Insurance was social media before social media existed. Though Wausau was not an advertiser on the Regis Philbin Show, Regis was fascinated by the men in the Wausau Depot ad in the fedora hats. Mr. Philbin mentioned the ad on his show numerous times as he tried to figure out, "What are those guys in the fedora hats talking about?" And that was in the 1980s, years after the first Depot ad ran. Today, the value of such a "live tweet" would be thousands and thousands of dollars.

The Wausau brand reminds me that budget doesn't replace grit, passion, or effective target marketing. I directly compete against insurance companies with budgets over 100 times mine, but that doesn't mean you can't win. My teams still win ... and there are many reasons for this (the topic of another post perhaps) but at the center of it is grit and a passion for creating excellence through unique experiences.

The pride created by the Wausau brand created a deep, enduring connection in the community. The Depot ad became the company's logo and years later, it stands the test of time and is familiar to people nationwide. Wausau's impact reached people in so many different ways. A local dentist shared a photo of the Wausau logo on a flag that he proudly displayed at the top of Mt. Everest. A retired, long-time employee in California sent me photos of his home office that were floor-to-ceiling covered in Wausau promotional items collected over 40 years. His car license plates read "Wausau1" and "Wausau2". A client sent me a photo of Wausau fishing lures that he saved on his desk for over twenty years because he claimed it was the absolute best promotional item he ever received. Johnny Miller, legendary PGA pro and golf analyst for NBC Sports was a fixture at Wausau golf outings for many years. Why? At the end of the day, we all want to connect with something bigger than ourselves, be part of something special, and be inspired. 

3) The Wausau Insurance ad tells a simple, honest story

The Wausau Depot Ad was brilliant in its simplicity. It told a simple, believable story. You read it. It engaged you. You learned something. It formed a lasting impression and it made you want to do business with the company. You bought it before anything was sold to you. Whereas the ad says "A little bit of Wausau on the sidewalks of New York" I have adopted that today and try to put "A little bit of Wausau in everything I do, no matter where I am." It changed conventional thinking and you can too.

Be honest about who you are. Be truthful in what you're saying. Be simple. Maximize your small window of opportunity. And make a big impact.

MY REGRET AND INSPIRATION

Deep down inside, I know there is little I could've done to prevent the end of the Wausau brand. But I will always think if I received the call to go to Wausau just twelve months earlier it may have been very, very different. Given twelve months, I am confident my team could've proved how great, passionate sales and marketing could've reignited the brand and driven more revenue for their parent company than sending the brand to pasture. Maybe that's just my ego? Maybe it's a sense of connection and failure that I let Bob Gunderson down?

But who has time for regrets? I am honored and humbled that I got to be part of a very, very small piece of the Wausau history. You could dwell on the demise of the brand or relish in the magic of how a print ad evolved into one of the most recognizable brands of its time. And how magical it must be to know your work on insurance advertising and marketing still inspires others years later!

At the end of the day, it is true that every new beginning is another beginning's end. And to that end, I've made it my continuous inspiration to try to create unique and memorable experiences that make our clients want to do business with us. And I try to do this with a truthful, simple message that inspires them. I still have a lot of work to do to create marketing so beautiful and inspiring that it proudly hangs on someone's wall and impacts so many people in so many positive ways. But that's what inspiration is all about ... the never-ending pursuit of absolute excellence. "A little piece of Wausau in everything I do."

WRITER'S NOTE: I'd like to send a thank you to a few of the people on my team in Wausau that made me realize during a very difficult time what "Good People" was all about: Brad Zweck, Clint Powell, Evan Byington, Jeff Reichert, Jeri Baumann, Jodi Schuster, Jon Stein, Linda Baer, Lisa Mikula, Mike Lang and Victoria Sears. Our time was short, but our memories many. You were all good people to do business with.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT WAUSAU: David Hestad produced a wonderful documentary as part of his "Wisconsin Hometown Series". View Part 1 (of 3).

INTERESTED IN VIEWING THE WAUSAU DEPOT: You can visit both the original Depot and the recreated Depot that Wausau Insurance built for their commercials (that's true) -- but that's another Wausau story.