When you walk into the office of a life insurance company, what do you expect to see? Something that exemplifies the values of the business, consistent with the brand, and that makes you feel welcome perhaps? Upon entering the Manhattan offices of Empire Wealth Strategies (Penn Mutual’s New York Agency) to meet with CEO Susan Cooper, I saw just that – in the form of a rugby ball encased in glass on the front desk. In Susan’s office was Penn Mutual’s 2014 Annual Report with the words, “Teammates for Life” and a photo of a rugby team on the cover, with rugby-related content about some of their associates inside. Penn Mutual President, Chairman, and CEO, Eileen McDonnell, Penn Mutual AVP of Corporate Communication, Keith Bratz, and Susan Cooper explain the background and reasoning as to how this all came to be.
How did I first discover Penn Mutual’s rugby affiliation?
The first rugby connection to Penn Mutual that I met was at the New York Rugby Business Network meeting (www.therugbybusinessnetwork.com). Empire Wealth Strategies hosted this event in April 2015, with speeches made by Stephen Lewis and Joe Jordan. Having just moved back to the United States from spending a few years in New Zealand, I was thrilled to attend this successful event and see firsthand how rugby is growing in the US. A week later I founded the Boston Rugby Business Network, which Penn Mutual’s Boston Agency, Concord Wealth Management, is actively involved on the committee and has kindly offered to host an event this year.
Penn Mutual recognizes the business attributes of rugby values and professional character, just like the Rugby Business Network and my newly founded business Positively Rugby. This business is a global networking business for anyone involved in or interested in rugby, focused on growing the game through its values and rugby goodness around the world. There are sure to be many more businesses and professionals recognizing the leadership qualities of people who come from a rugby background.
How did Penn Mutual meet rugby?
Rugby was introduced to Penn Mutual two years ago by Joe Jordan, a rugby player with a life insurance career and now a motivational speaker, whom McDonnell knew from the insurance industry. Jordan was aware that United World Sports (UWS) did not currently have title sponsors of their rugby properties, the Collegiate Rugby Championship (CRC) and the Varsity Cup. UWS via Jordan approached Penn Mutual with the offer to be a title sponsor of these events. Although the opportunity was presented, Penn Mutual initially declined. McDonnell said, “If we were going to align ourselves with rugby, we wanted to do it right. We didn’t just want to be the title sponsor of a sport, but we wanted it to be embedded in our culture and in our strategies.”
What rugby sponsorships has Penn Mutual entered into?
In September 2014, about a year after initially presented with the opportunity, Penn Mutual was ready to be integrated with rugby. They entered into a three-year title sponsorship agreement of the CRC and Varsity Cup with UWS and NBC Sports Group. “UWS is the largest commercial rugby entity in the United States. The CRC is the biggest competitive rugby event in America!” bit.ly/1dSyQGc.
A rugby award by Penn Mutual called the “Life of Significance Award” was awarded for the first time at this year’s CRC to Midshipman First Class David Schroeder of the US Naval Academy. This award is named after Jordan’s book, “Living a Life of Significance.” Coaches nominated players who not only demonstrate rugby’s values on the field, but also off the pitch. Certificates were given to all thirteen athletes who were nominated and the award was presented live on NBC’s main programming of the CRC.
Shortly after entering their partnership with UWS and NBC, in May 2015, Penn Mutual announced its sponsorship of the National Small College Rugby Organization (NSCRO), which involves men’s and women’s fifteens and sevens rugby. “We fell in love with the whole idea of the community, the culture, and the values we learned as we explored more about rugby,” said McDonnell.
How is Penn Mutual growing their business through rugby?
There were three fronts by which the rugby opportunity presented itself to them, including raising brand awareness, recruiting, and lead generation. Penn Mutual is well known in the northeastern region of the United States, but getting their business, as the fastest-growing life insurer in America, involved with the fastest-growing sport of rugby, would help them reach a larger geographical area.
When recruiting new advisors, Penn Mutual seeks those people that are able to work in a team environment and bring them on board to be “Teammates For Life.” There is “a need for bringing the next generation of advisors into the life insurance business,” said McDonnell. “Rugby players are great teammates; they work well together, they have a passion for what they do. We have a passion for what we do, so there was so much alignment between who we are and what we stand for.”
Lead generation for Penn Mutual is closely aligned with rugby, because rugby people are, according to McDonnell, “a highly socially networked group of individuals that have great rapport with one another and trust.”
What rugby goodness is Penn Mutual involved in?
Penn Mutual is also involved in supporting rugby charity work, for which they’ve recently participated in a fundraiser with the Doylestown Dragons. The girl’s high school team made it to the finals this year during the CRC event. The Doylestown Dragons, in collaboration with Penn Mutual, held a clothing drive in support of a women’s shelter. McDonnell said, “We’re looking to connect, not only putting names on t-shirts as our brand being present, but actually embedding our cultures together.”
“You only have one chance at making a first impression, and I wanted to make sure that when we were introduced to the broader rugby community, that they could see Penn Mutual at its best…to deliver on the promises that we were making to the rugby community,” said McDonnell.
How did you make the rugby integration at Penn Mutual happen?
Penn Mutual’s rugby involvement came in at the CEO level via McDonnell’s conversations with Jordan. McDonnell presented the ideas to the board, with no metrics on which to base a business decision. It’s been a top-down managed opportunity, rather than just bringing it in as a marketing program. Penn Mutual’s marketing and communications teams have been heavily involved in bringing rugby culture into Penn Mutual’s corporate culture.
A Penn Mutual leader, Leanne Acton, who is very passionate about rugby, has been appointed to oversee the home office and field activities. They also hired someone from a sports marketing events and planning business. Current internal staff at Penn Mutual from the Sales and Recruitment departments were also brought in to the team to make it happen.
A Columbia University professor recently recognized the accomplishments of Penn Mutual in an article discussing marketing activation programs. The professor discussed “the difference of just putting your brand on something and having a fully integrated strategic program,” said McDonnell.
How does Penn Mutual support women’s rugby?
The men’s and women’s USA Sevens teams both qualified for the 2016 Olympics in Rio. McDonnell enthusiastically stated, “We’re very excited!” When asked whether Penn Mutual is supporting women’s rugby, McDonnell said, “Absolutely!” The twelve women’s teams that participated in the CRC attended a dinner banquet hosted by Penn Mutual that weekend, where they had the opportunity to meet with McDonnell, and she in turn had the opportunity to meet with them, wish them the best. McDonnell said that she told them how proud she and Penn Mutual are of their accomplishments, not only on the field, but also for themselves and from an education standpoint.
Penn Mutual’s home office is hosting the Doylestown Dragons women’s rugby team at their home offices for a day to meet with McDonnell and other senior women executives, such as their CFO and a Managing Director of their local office. The aim is to have the women rugby players shoot higher for themselves and seeing what could be possible.
How does Penn Mutual get the community involved in their corporate culture?
They’ve invited some local college teams to come to their home office and give demonstrations. Bratz stated, “We’ve hosted men’s and women’s teams, such as St. Joseph’s, Penn, Temple and the University of Delaware.” For Take Your Children to Work Day they had a kids’ program with about 80 kids in attendance, where they spent an hour outside with the Drexel rugby team. McDonnell described the occasion as one where they learned about the game, but it wasn’t just about the game; the focus was on teamwork.”
Afterwards, the kids came back inside and did a project about how they as a marketing team would come up with rugby marketing. McDonnell joyfully discussed the project, “They were broken into teams, given budgets with how much money they could spend, what approaches they would take if they were going to be marketing rugby. It comes back to every opportunity that we have, we’re trying to connect what we’re doing from a strategic standpoint to rugby.”
Respecting the values of rugby in business so transparently is a tremendous undertaking by Penn Mutual, who leads a strong model by fully integrating the ideals of the sport into their corporate culture. Conventional business cultures oftentimes unknowingly practice rugby’s values in their leadership and best practices, with purpose, teamwork, trust, integrity, and passion all exhibited.
Penn Mutual is leading the way in living these values in their daily work, while also growing the game of rugby by providing financial support in sponsorships at the collegiate level. Attitude and performance embodied on the pitch bode well in corporations, by which Penn Mutual is building the momentum for growth of rugby and their business achievements.
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