LifeLock's Interesting Ad Campaign

This is one of my favorite recent ad campaigns. Usually commercials like this, which include street interviews of people who supposedly used and loved the product or service, don't build a lot of trust because we all know how easy it is to find someone on the street who will say anything for a few bucks. But in this campaign the CEO of the company, Todd Davis, broadcasts his freakin social security number! Sure, we don't know if it really is his real SSN, but it's a bold statement either way. So bold in fact, that it's the perfect way to build trust.


I looked into this a little more to see if I could find any legitimacy behind the statements in the commercial. I only found one article disputing the integrity of LifeLock, but it was poorly written and unreliable. Of course most of the proof supporting the LifeLock claims were found on the LifeLock website. Go to www.lifelock.com and the front page has four news spot clips right there. The first video is an interview with one of the people who you see giving a street testimony in the commercial. He tells his story about what happened and how LifeLock helped. Then things get really interesting. In all four of the videos, the reporter and even the CEO himself state that you don't need the services of LifeLock or a similar company. You can provide yourself with the same service at no cost at all. All you have to do is renew a fraud alert every 3 months, which is exactly what LifeLock does. Why did Davis negate his own service? Is he hoping that Americans are too lazy to deal with the renewal process? Or are he and LifeLock truly concerned about the safety of our identities? Perhaps this is an attempt to build even more trust in him and his company. This statement could be meant to help prove that the service is legitimate and that it works.

Regardless of whether Davis's announced SSN is real or not, the ad campaign is clear and attractive. Presenting something as private as someone's social security number, this ad is a strong and effective way to grab attention and express it's worth.

If anyone is interested, I also found a video of a news report in which the LifeLock service is tested by a reporter.