Surfing the Social Wave

we need to for retirement for a variety of reasons,” Rogers says. “As an African American, I take great pride in being associated with a company like Allstate to work on this issue and to do it in a way that is meaningful for all customers, but in particular for African American customers, who for whatever reason do not feel as comfortable with what is available to them.”

Based on Scarborough Research’s annual household survey of the top 80 designated market areas, Allstate had an 18.7% share of African American auto insurance buyers in 2007. These numbers represent a No. 2 ranking for the African American auto market behind State Farm.

“I think we’re on the right path to social networking, all with respect to our strategic vision to reinvent retirement for middle market consumers,” Hohmann says.

“There is a certain ease to this type of communication that is just marvelous,” Rogers adds, explaining that her daughter, while preparing to leave home for college, has introduced Rogers to her six roommates by way of Facebook. “It has impacted my life and makes me feel in touch with the people who my daughter will be living with next year.”

Rogers says that more and more people over age 30 are moving on to social networking sites. “It started with the young, but it is moving to an older segment of the population. They are on there dating and shopping,” Rogers says.

“We don’t want to force anything, but we want to be sure that people are getting the right information,” adds Rogers, who in 2006 was recognized by BLACK ENTERPRISE as one of the 50 most powerful African American businesswomen. “We don’t want to create something that confuses people more. We want to make certain that the facts are accessible, easily understood, and that we really are educating people to be smarter about their retirement.”