Since its 1963 debut, Wild Kingdom has served as a cornerstone of American conservation awareness, firmly establishing the link between natural protection and the sponsor Mutual of Omaha brand. This legacy continues with the launch of “Voices of the Wild,” a cross-media campaign developed by Tombras that centers on the fundamental human and animal instinct to safeguard one’s “kingdom.” Rooted in over 115 years of insurance and financial service history, the creative work introduces a new tagline, “Protect Your Kingdom.”
The centerpiece of the campaign is a 60-second ad, “Fiercely Protect.” This spot utilizes a technical blend of archival footage and original voiceovers from legendary host Marlin Perkins, interspersed with new narration from current host Peter Gros.
Here’s what iSpot’s Creative Assessment platform revealed on actual viewer response to the spot.
The Details:
- By leveraging the heritage of “Wild Kingdom,” the Mutual of Omaha brand successfully created a highly engaging and emotionally resonant connection with American viewers that significantly outperformed insurance category norms (past year):
- The ad demonstrated elite breakthrough power, placing in the 99th percentile for both Attention and Likeability compared to the one-year insurance norm. This suggests the “Wild Kingdom” concept remains a compelling draw, effectively grabbing and holding viewer interest with Watchability in the very top percentile (even more impressive given the :60 length).
- The creative tapped into human emotion, registering solid signal levels for heartfelt storytelling and the nostalgic heritage, helped by the mix of animals. In fact, gen pop viewers identified the visual scenes as the Single Best Thing about the ad (34%) at more than double the category norm (14%).
- This emotional weight translated directly into action, with the ad achieving a Top 2 Box purchase/visit intent of 55%, which is 18 points above the category norm (37%), and reflects an above-norm connection across all types of insurance intenders.
- However, while the “Wild Kingdom” content was impressionable, there could be an opportunity to more explicitly cement the connection to Mutual of Omaha. As is, just over seven in ten successfully recalled the brand after a single view (unaided), which trailed the category benchmark by -7 pts.
- The ad demonstrated elite breakthrough power, placing in the 99th percentile for both Attention and Likeability compared to the one-year insurance norm. This suggests the “Wild Kingdom” concept remains a compelling draw, effectively grabbing and holding viewer interest with Watchability in the very top percentile (even more impressive given the :60 length).
- “Fiercely Protect” ranks as the second-best insurance ad of the past year in overall response (Ace Score) and was the leader in driving consumer consideration:
- The ad also led in grabbing Attention and Watchability, while other top insurance ads focused on characters and/or message over visuals alone.
- Each of the top five insurance ads appealed quite well across age/gender despite varying lengths and creative approaches but viewer sentiment on “Fiercely Protect” reflects a creative execution that successfully made Mutual of Omaha stand apart in a commoditized category:
- In a category often composed of very similar ads and strategies, the cinematography and overall production value was a differentiator for many viewers.
- The emotional equity of “Wild Kingdom” built over decades created instant credibility. Viewers explicitly stated this nostalgia and concern for nature made them more receptive to the insurance message.
- While the parallel between animal families protecting their young and human family protection resonated strongly with cross-generational appeal, a smaller portion of viewers were confused about what specific product was being advertised – an opportunity for future edits, cutdowns, or campaigns.
- Of course, for some the :60 length was a bit long, and a few specific complaints about the text-on-screen section being “way too long” were also seen. This points to editing opportunities for shorter forms (or voiceover instead of text overlays), if desired.
- In a category often composed of very similar ads and strategies, the cinematography and overall production value was a differentiator for many viewers.
Sample comments on the “Fiercely Protect” :60
“The message is strong. The music is strong. Visuals are extraordinary. It was hard to choose because everything about this ad was great. Good job.”
Male 36-49
“I loved this ad for Mutual of Omaha, protect the kingdom. It had a feel-good vibe and made me want to contribute to such a good brand.”
Female 21-35
“Mutual of Omaha put out a beautiful commercial reminding us of our childhood and watching the animal kingdom and the call to protect the wild kingdom, and also to protect our own families and little kingdom by getting good life insurance. It was one of the best commercials I have ever seen and really warmed my heart.”
Female 50+
“I honestly, honestly don’t know what they’re trying to sell me, but I saw a lot of different types of animals, so that was kind of cool.”
Male 21-35
“The ad was good until the original speaker stopped and someone else started talking. Then, the original speaker stopped again and it went to a way too long part of the video with words on screen. It should have ended when the original speaker was done talking.”
Female 36-49
“The music was epic in a documentary kind of way. I was thinking why is this ad showing animals? Then, it all came together. Protecting your family is the natural thing to do. I liked seeing families from different backgrounds.”
Male 36-49
“I enjoyed the ad and seeing the animals as well as the line stating the urge to protect is primal and how we as humans would protect what’s ours just as the animal kingdom would theirs.”
Female 21-35
“I love everything that has to do with this ad. I love animals and hate how a lot are almost extinct or already extinct because of humans.”
Male 21-35
“It’s a nice inspiring ad. Beautiful animals that you protect while people protect their families. Love the tag line.”
Female 50+
- Second-by-second trace shows that while a drop in engagement was seen as the wildlife scenes came to a close, engagement still remained quite high:
- However, given the resonance of the message, the brand might consider narration of it as well and/or a shorter form. In skippable environments, Mutual of Omaha risks the message not being delivered given the close attention and reading that must be paid through the end of a longer-form creative – more difficult on smaller screens. iSpot is a non-skippable, mobile testing environment.
- Engagement was in line with several other top performing insurance ads.
- However, given the resonance of the message, the brand might consider narration of it as well and/or a shorter form. In skippable environments, Mutual of Omaha risks the message not being delivered given the close attention and reading that must be paid through the end of a longer-form creative – more difficult on smaller screens. iSpot is a non-skippable, mobile testing environment.
- iSpot Media Measurement reports a competitively lower SOV (Impressions) for the brand on both linear and streaming since launch (12/8/25-12/21/25); however, given the very strong impact this new creative exhibited, additional budget could be warranted against broad reach to maximize outcomes:
- Aflac invested in streaming over linear over this period, with Select Quote also favoring streaming.
- With 55% of all viewers describing themselves as open to considering Mutual of Omaha and 13%-16% lapsed or unfamiliar, the strength of this new creative cannot be overlooked:
Ineffective creative, even if delivered to the right audience, results in missed opportunity and performance shortfalls. Great creative delivered poorly also results in failed campaigns.
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Creative Agency: Tombras