Genworth Financial
Genworth Financial, then an arm of GE, first turned to CLS more than 14 years ago, and our team has since forged a close, trusted advisor relationship with the company. Today, CLS provides strategic communications counsel to Genworth’s long term care insurance division and its domestic and international mortgage insurance businesses.
Genworth was suffering from an industry-wide negative perception of mortgage insurance, criticized and viewed as an added, non-tax deductible expense that only benefits mortgage lenders. As a result, consumers inferred that the product should be avoided and lenders, therefore, began offering alternative home financing options that did not necessarily offer the safety and security of an insured mortgage. CLS was tasked with telling the other side of the story – that mortgage insurance is a credit enhancement tool that enables homebuyers with a down payment less than 20 percent to qualify for safe, secure home financing. The mortgage insurance industry desperately needed to turn this story around if the product was to be sustained in the marketplace for the long term.
CLS worked closely with Genworth to develop a comprehensive public affairs campaign aimed at changing this perception and re-positioning mortgage insurance as a sensible choice. CLS recruited and leveraged third party support, commissioned public opinion research, released several economic white papers, and secured positive national media coverage all advocating to Congress that mortgage insurance should become tax deductible. This campaign achieved its first victory in 2006 when Congress passed first-of-its-kind legislation making mortgage insurance tax deductible for all new home loans in 2007. The new policy benefiting mortgage insurance holders was featured in top-tier media outlets including the Wall Street Journal and USA Today. In late 2007, this legislation was extended for an additional three years.
