...and 34 other questions that have been on your mind.

⏲️ Total Read Time: 7 Minutes

 

Good morning. Thanks for taking a little time away from Googling “pumpkin patch near me” to read Circuit. It wouldn’t be the first time we nearly got upstaged by a squash. In this edition, you’ll find 34 questions and the answers to... most of them.

 

Phil McLean, Digital Media & Content Supervisor, the vocal talent in our EMC videos, star of the occasional commercial, and your host for Philly on the Street.

FEATURE

For a Dollar...

Unless you live in a cave under a rock inside a volcano five miles under the ocean surface, you noticed our intranet platform changed a few weeks ago. Well, we want to know what you think of it.  

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So, we sent Philly McLean running full speed down the hallways of the corporate office holding a microphone.  

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“Miss! Miss! Miss!” he shouts urgently at an EMC team member. “For a dollar, can you describe the new intranet platform in three words?” 

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Welcome to the game show that follows Philly through the Streets of Des Moines (and through the interwebs of Zoom) as he asks unsuspecting EMC team members what they think of the new intranet. Known for his signature interview style, which falls somewhere between the gossipy best friend you just met and a zealous attack dog, this video is guaranteed to make you laugh. 

 

ARE YOU AMPED?

The EMC Brand Right Now

Excited Kat Dennings GIF By HULU via GIPHY

Here are two words you can use in conversation to supercharge your water cooler talk to a) make it more interesting than “How ‘bout that weather?” and b) have your boss thinking you were really paying attention in that last all team member meeting. Those words are Brand Amp. 

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Why those words? Because there’s just something irresistible about their promise. The amplification of the EMC brand takes an enormous amount of work—intense collaboration, partnering with the right experts and a whooole lot of research. All to get us to the stage where we can confidently say, “That’s it—that’s what we want the world to know about EMC.” Naturally, we’re geeking out over what’s to come (we hope you are too).  

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See if you can slip Brand Amp into a conversation today. And if words fail you, use the interview below with Scott Jean, President and CEO, to get the discussion going. We’re excited to get team members involved in Brand Amp and we’ll share updates from now until the launch in 2024. As in...right now 👇

Q: Why do we need to amplify EMC’s brand?

🎤 EMC is a great company, but our extensive brand research identified a tremendous opportunity to tell our story in a more compelling and modern way, showcase our commitment to relationships, and enhance customer and team member experiences by connecting our brand to everything we do.  

Q: Why Now?

🎤 Our amazing team members and local presence matter to our agents, and our high-touch strategies will be fueled by our growing data and technology capabilities that are starting to go live. There are so many exciting initiatives underway at EMC. The Brand Amp connects the dots and provides added support to all of it, internally and externally.   

Q: What's Changing?

🎤 We’ll have a new logo that will be revealed in the spring of 2024, along with a fresh EMC tagline. These are the symbols of our brand. But our brand is so much more than that. Ultimately, it’s our ability to bring our internal mission and values to life for our agents, policyholders and each other through consistent words and heartfelt actions.  

Q: What's the end goal?

🎤 We aim to amplify our position in the marketplace so that we can improve more lives.  

Q: How can team members help?

🎤 I am excited to be on this journey with all of you and to get team members involved in Brand Amp! That work is just getting underway, so stay tuned and stay updated through EMC’s communication channels and our Brand Amp page on the EMC intranet. 

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✈️ Takeaway: Profitably growing EMC is an ever-evolving process, and now, going into our 114th year, we’re eager and excited to move through the next century with an even stronger foundation and greater knowledge of who we are and why we’re here. Most importantly, we want to make sure that anyone who comes across our path has a great experience. 

 

WHICH ONE IS BIGGER?

Move Over Taylor Swift

Let's play a game. The rules are simple. We’ll give you clues for two numbers, and you have to answer the simple question: “Which one is bigger?” 

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  1. The number of dollars in direct written premium for the EMC construction segment OR The number of Taylor Swift's Instagram followers 
  2. The number of classes we’re actively pursuing for construction OR The number of calories in a grande Starbucks cold brew with cold foam
  3. The average rating for our claims service OR The average rating of the Space Needle on Google reviews 

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Hint: The Construction/Contractors campaign is a big, big deal. Do we think it’s bigger than Taylor Swift, Starbucks cold brew and the Space Needle? Apparently so. Do we think you believe us? We do not. But do we think you could be convinced of its greatness? Yes. Keep reading to find the answers to all these questions and more.   

Answers and More

To help us with this task, Circuit chatted with Teresa Cates, Senior Underwriting Product Consultant and mom to triplets. Since she's used to dealing in threes, we asked her to pull out three reasons why the Construction/Contractors campaign is as essential to EMC as turkey is to Thanksgiving. Here's what she said:

BIG

We’re taking charge of the type of business we want to engage in by defining and refining what’s on our books. This means we’re making strategic decisions on certain classes to ensure EMC maintains a healthy loss ratio. And to bring agents along, we spiced up our appetite guide with a color-coded chart to help them visualize our appetite by class, including the 50+ we’re actively pursuing (which trumps the number of calories in a grande Starbucks cold brew with cold foam by ten). 

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  • ✔ Green: Our bread and butter; we’re hungry for it 
  • ? Yellow: Like a cinnamon roll with chili, we’ll consider it 
  • X Red: Like microwaving fish in the office, we avoid it 

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Additionally, we developed a comprehensive 120-page internal appetite guide, providing underwriters with valuable insights to help them make more informed profitable growth decisions that protect our company’s financial well-being.  

BIGGER

This segment has already proven to be a profitable venture for EMC. However, our primary focus here is to carefully shape our appetite within this sector, laying the foundation for even more robust and profitable growth.  

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This is the golden ticket to more zeros in your One EMC bonus, which can help you fund that dream vacation to see the Space Needle (4.6 Google review rating, by the way—compared to our claims services at a 4.7). 

BIGGEST

Literally, construction is the biggest segment for EMC. If Taylor Swift had a dollar for every Instagram follower, she’d still be $211 million short of matching EMC’s 2022 written premium in the construction/contractor segment, which was $485M. That means our success in this area directly impacts our overall company strategy and goal of 2.5 by 2025.  

 

‌So, are you convinced? 😉

 

IS PUMPKIN SPICE OVERHYPED? 

Are Your Fall Opinions Controversial?

Its Fall GIF By Team Coco via Giphy

We wanted to start some drama before the weekend, so we asked EMC team members to offer their takes on the most controversial fall debates. Hundreds of responses later…  

When choosing a fall-flavored drink, do you prefer...  

Pumpkin spice: 27% 

Hot apple cider: 54% 

Those are both gross: 19%

 

You and your crew are snuggled in for a movie night. Do you pop in…

‌Halloween: 14%

Beetlejuice: 17%

Hocus Pocus: 31%

IT: 7%

I’ll pass on spooky movies: 31%

 

Tell us the truth about candy corn—love it or hate it? 

‌There is no in-between.

‌I love these little sugar bites: 53%

Pass, it’s glorified candle wax: 47%

 

‌Turkey or ham on Thanksgiving?

It’s dubbed ‘turkey day’ for a reason: 59%

Let ham hog the spotlight: 16%

Forget the main course, just give me the sides: 25%

 

Are you rocking plaid flannel this season?

Yes, from head to toe: 48%

No, I’m not an ad for Brawny paper towels: 52%

 

‌True or false: Fall is the undisputed best season of the year.

True, I’m falling for fall: 71%

False, I’m just here for the apple cider donuts: 29%

Hay, there is one thing we can all agree on. 

Our One EMC United Way campaign continues to make a significant and lasting impact and exemplifies our commitment to improving the lives of those in our communities. Thank you to all who participated in and generously contributed to the 2023 United Way campaign. It was truly inspiring to see teams uniting both virtually and in person to have fun and support the betterment of communities across the country. As the leaves change, so do lives, and together, we’re Making it Happen.

Our Total Impact

Throughout the campaign, EMC team members pledged a remarkable $341,244. With a company match at 50% of all team member contributions, our total climbed to $511,866. Then, another fundraising initiative in Des Moines raised $4,580. Finally, a Des Moines-based EMC retiree campaign and 50% match brought in another $18,375. Bringing EMC’s total impact to date…  

🎉 $534,821! 

What do you say we make team member contributions an even $345,000?

Pledging has been extended until Monday, Oct. 23 at 11 p.m. Central Time! Please consider making your pledge via the personal link you received in an email on Monday, Oct. 9 so we can improve even more lives!

 

WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING?

Around EMC

💰 A penny for your thoughts? We don't have a dollar for you, but we'd love your two cents. Take this quick survey to tell us what you think about the new intranet.

‌👂 Got a minute? Listen to the first episode of The Brand Minute.

‌🔥 Is it Hot in Here? Find out which executives can handle the heat in ELT Hot Ones

🔨 Want more on the contractor’s campaign? Watch this video 

 

JUST FOR FUN

Trick or Eek?

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on Circuit's quiz has been compared to snagging a king-size candy bar while trick or treating. It's that satisfying. For this challenge, we've pulled some memorable quotes from five scary movies. Can you guess which movie each quote is from? 

 

  1. "Well, Clarice. Have the lambs stopped screaming?"
  2. ‌"What's in the box?"
  3. ‌"You ever feel prickly things on the back of your neck?"
  4. ‌"What's your favorite scary movie?" 
  5. ‌"What's the good of being a ghost if you can't frighten people away?"

 

‌(Scroll a little more for the answers 👇)

 
 

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1) Silence of the Lambs   2) Seven   3) The Sixth Sense  4) Scream  5) Beetlejuice