2009 News Releases

• Campaign asks important questions, drives viewers to www.findtheanswers.com 
• Helping consumers find information builds trust, confidence

Boston - John Hancock this month launched the latest   installment in its award-winning “Cursor” advertising campaign, alongside a new micro-website, www.findtheanswers.com, designed to provide answers to financial questions frequently asked by consumers. 

Titled “When We,” the new television, print and online ad features an online conversation between friends in which they recall a time when they were able to think about retirement as a concrete point in the future. However, in the wake of the market volatility of the past two years, they now wonder whether they will be able to retire at all. One of the friends asks how they can move away from asking “Will We” retire and get back to asking “When We” retire.

As each ad closes with a question one of the parties struggles to answer, viewers are encouraged to visit the new findtheanswers.com micro-site, which features third-party content providing answers to frequently asked financial questions. The site lists ten top questions in the current financial environment, ranging in topic from “maximizing my assets,” to “maintaining income in retirement,” to “leaving a legacy.” Questions include:  “How far has my finish line been pushed out by the recession?” and “How can I help rebuild the value of my portfolio?” Possible answers are then provided in each section based on articles from BusinessWeek, the Wall Street Journal, AARP, CNN Money, and the American Council of Life Insurers, among other independent sources. Visitors are encouraged to mark which questions are most relevant to them.

“Our advertising is based on these kinds of questions,” said Jim Bacharach, Vice President, John Hancock Brand Communications & Creative Services. “Making it easier to find good answers helps reinforce our brand’s positioning around giving consumers confidence about their financial futures.”

This past summer, John Hancock conducted research with consumers about their attitudes and perceptions during these difficult times. Among other topics, Bacharach notes, “We explored the things companies can do to build trust and confidence. Our research confirmed that a key factor in building trust is whether a company can demonstrate it is keeping consumers’ best interests at heart.”

“When We” is an installment in the “Cursor” ad series, which reflects the new ways in which spouses, family members and friends talk to each other about pressing, and sometimes difficult, topics such as saving money for retirement or protecting a family legacy.   It is called the “Cursor” campaign because these conversations – which once may have taken place in person – in reality now are often conducted via instant messaging or email on a computer or portable device, and often late at night or on the go, given today’s lifestyles. 

John Hancock was recently named “Marketer of the Year” at The Ad Club’s 49^th Annual Hatch Awards in mid-October, in part due to the impact of “Cursor.”   The “When We” ad was shot locally in Boston, using primarily local talent, and providing yet another example of John Hancock’s commitment to the Boston community. Boston-based Hill, Holliday, Connors, Cosmopulos created the campaign.

Ads will appear on network college football and the MLB League Championship series, and also in the coverage of those games by ESPN, ESPN2, Sports Illustrated, SI.com, and CBSSports.com. On the personal finance side, ads will appear every other Wednesday in the Wall Street Journal’s Personal Finance section. Online ads will continue on WSJ.com, SmartMoney.com, and Forbes.com. 

About John Hancock Financial and Manulife Financial Corporation
John Hancock Financial is a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 22 countries and territories worldwide. The John Hancock unit, through its insurance companies, comprises one of the largest life insurers in the United States. John Hancock offers a broad range of financial products and services, including life insurance, fixed and variable annuities, fixed products, mutual funds, 401(k) plans, long-term care insurance, college savings, and other forms of business insurance. Additional information about John Hancock may be found at www.johnhancock.com.

Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and in most of Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, Manulife offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$421 billion (US$362 billion) as at June 30, 2009. 

Manulife Financial Corporation trades as ‘MFC’ on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under ‘945’ on the SEHK. Manulife Financial may be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com

Contact:
Beth McGoldrick 
(617) 663-4751
bmcgoldrick@jhancock.com

PR 2009 -- 66                                                   ###