Jeff Balazs from Farm Bureau Insurance has been sponsoring two VNN schools for two years now. Located in Canton, Michigan, he’s here to share his reasoning behind becoming a sponsor, and how advertising through the schools has improved his relationship with his community.
As told to Erika Arora
Farm Bureau Insurance is a company that provides insurance for businesses and families in Michigan. Established in 1959, it’s one of state’s largest companies, and started out selling farmer’s liability coverage, hence the name. We pride ourselves on our wonderful job of staying involved in community and supporting families. I have worked here going on nine years, and own my own Agency under the Farm Bureau umbrella.
Specifically, my agency focuses on taking care of businesses and families in the southeast part of the state. Our slogan is “balanced insurance solutions for all your insurable interests.” We’re all about family, and so we’ve whittled our mission down to putting our marketing efforts toward the kids and schools, and this means athletes. Sponsoring these schools is my largest soft marketing expenditure, and I believe very strongly in it. My kids go to school in Huron Township, my daughter at the high school, and if people see me, I want them to see me supporting their children. I like that I am able to be there in the community providing services and supporting the kids through athletics.
I currently coach Huron Youth Basketball in the winter, and Huron Little League in the spring and summer. Both are youth programs that feed out school programs and are managed by the school system, so I am very involved with the schools and their athletic programs. The best part about advertising through VNN is that I love showing up on everyone’s sports schedule. It’s just really fun. I printed out my daughter’s softball schedule and my face was on there. When people meet me for the first time, it’s not the first time they’re meeting me. The sponsoring shows that I’m in your community and I’m here to help. If I’m going to invest money in a marketing effort, I want it to support the kids and their athletics. This wasn’t always the case –I advertised on shopping carts for a bit and I definitely had a presence that way, but I stopped because it wasn’t in support of something I believe in.
With coaching, my efforts have helped locally. I have been able to establish a relationship with the AD at Huron High School so that issues get addressed pretty quickly. Our basketball net once broke and would not raise, and within a week of me mentioning it, it was fixed.
The schools I currently sponsor are Huron High School and Canton High school because they are right in my community, and my children go there. Giving back to the schools is a great feeling, and it gives the kids the recognition they deserve. You have to be part of a larger plan to truly reap the benefits of marketing.
Businesses should absolutely invest in sponsoring a high school. I think it’s disheartening to see a VNN network and only see one name on it. I recommend everone doing it. Youre up in the gym, you’re everywhere and it’s a great part of the community plan.
