Life insurance is a low-interest, parity-heavy category dominated by fear-based messaging and indistinguishable promises. For Symetra, a true insurance industry challenger brand, standing out meant reframing the role of financial planning entirely.
After the success of Plan Well, Play Well Season 1 proved that long-form branded storytelling could earn real attention, Season 2 set out to scale the idea and deepen impact. The objective was to further build national awareness and consideration for Symetra while strengthening key brand equities—specifically, trust, value, and “supports my goals” ideas—among Working-Well-Off adults, particularly women 40–59.
By expanding the storytelling, sharpening distribution, and optimizing creative performance, Symetra aimed to demonstrate that planning isn’t about preparing for the worst. Rather, it’s about earning the freedom to live well right now.
While most life insurance marketing leans into anxiety and abstraction, Symetra doubled down on joy, confidence, and possibility.
Anchored once again by Sue Bird, Season 2 expanded the platform with two new long-form episodes that showcased Sue's life beyond the court. Each episode followed Sue as she took on a new, unfamiliar challenge—reinforcing the idea that when you plan well, you give yourself permission to explore, grow, and play well at any stage of life.
YouTube remained the primary storytelling engine, with 3–minute episodes designed to earn attention rather than interrupt it. Season 2 optimized the ecosystem around those films, expanding short-form trailers, YouTube Shorts, Meta placements, and influencer amplification to drive discovery and sustained engagement. Creative sequencing and playlist routing were refined to increase time spent and completion rates, while audience targeting was broadened after Season 1 data showed equal resonance among men.
A key executional challenge was scale without dilution. As budgets increased in Season 2, Symetra resisted the urge to fragment the idea or shorten the storytelling. Instead, the team optimized around performance learnings—adjusting creative order, refining edits, and balancing reach with depth—while preserving the emotional core of the platform.
Season 2 of Plan Well, Play Well validated the platform’s ability to scale while maintaining emotional impact and media efficiency.
Across Season 2, Symetra nearly doubled cumulative YouTube views, contributing to 48.1 million total views and helping drive more than 57 million views across both seasons. Long-form video completion rates averaged 30.8%, significantly exceeding the 25% benchmark for three-minute content in the category.
Paid media performance improved alongside engagement. Meta and Shorts delivered below-benchmark CPC and CPV, while influencer content drove efficient reach and credibility. Season 2 optimizations—including creative sequencing and audience balancing—improved time spent on Symetra’s YouTube content to nearly three minutes, far exceeding site averages.
Most importantly, the work delivered on brand objectives. Brand tracking showed gains in consideration and key equities tied to purchase intent, including trust, value, and goal support—rare movement in a category where metrics typically remain flat.
Season 2 proved that Plan Well, Play Well could be a durable brand platform that turns financial planning into something people want to watch, engage with, and ultimately believe in.
