Weaving Community Care Into Marketing at Ryan and Ryan Insurance

A thriving business requires visibility, and how companies gain brand awareness varies substantially. Community support is not always forefront when considering how to stay reputable, but it is where Ryan and Ryan Insurance Brokers, Inc., a Kingston firm, places the bulk of its marketing efforts. For the company, it’s been a mutually beneficial approach.

“My dad taught me to treat others as you’d want to be treated. That lesson carried over to the family business, which he started in 1958. We’d rather show our firm in a way that benefits the organizations around us,” explains Bob Ryan, president of Ryan and Ryan Insurance Brokers, Inc., the corporation he formed in 2007.

The Kingston community is the focus of the firm, with 85 percent of the revenue coming from within a 15-mile radius of the office. The agency provides farm, business, home, health, auto, and life insurance. The attention to the area is no accident; Ryan focuses on Kingston in homage to his fifth-generation roots in the region. Unsurprisingly, Kingston has changed considerably since 1851, when Ryan’s ancestors first settled in the city.

Over the last seven years, Ryan has watched private equity money and larger national firms buy out several independent insurance agencies in the Kingston area. It’s changed the landscape by taking the quest for insurance online and forcing customers to submit information for a quote before knowing what they might need. “This change has been an opportunity for us to shine as the hometown agency that still answers every phone call with a human voice,” says Ryan.

A hometown agency has its advantages but also requires staying prominent to locals. The firm meets advertising needs by sponsoring multiple community organizations. Most sponsorship choices come from a personal connection to the mission.

The firm sponsors the Benedictine Health Foundation, an organization with deep roots in the community’s healthcare history and a special place in the hearts of the Ryan family. Bob Ryan was born there, his grandmother served as a nurse, and his ailing father was cared for with remarkable kindness and compassion. The foundation provides cancer care, gives funds to cancer patients, and covers associated costs like transportation to appointments and wigs.

Ryan is also the co-founder of the annual Shamrock Run and has sponsored the event for 35 years, noting that it marks the unofficial first day of spring when Kingstonians emerge from hibernation.

The firm recently celebrated its 65th year in business. Ryan attributes this success to his employees, many of whom have been on staff for decades, with an upcoming retirement send-off for an employee of 37 years. “If you take care of your employees, they will take care of your customers,” Ryan says. Similarly, taking care of the community can help bolster a business.

“I’ve watched Kinston grow astronomically in the last 10 years. Rundown buildings are getting restored. It further invigorates my commitment to this community,” says Ryan.