TMK Marketing and Publications Department

Style Guide

The following guidelines are intended to promote consistency among marketing materials and publications created for Torchmark Corporation and its subsidiaries. For direction on words not listed in this guide, adhere to Merriam-Webster’s usage ().

ACRONYMS

  • An acronym must follow the words it represents (in parentheses) — the first time used in text. Each subsequent time, the acronym should be used alone. Avoid overuse of several different acronyms in one document. We pioneered “Automatic” Claims Filing® (ACF) PLUS. 75 percent of Medicare Supplement policyholders signed up for ACF PLUS.

ACTUARY / ACTUARIAL

  • Actuary: (noun) a person who compiles and analyzes statistics and uses them to calculate insurance risks and premiums. Kate is an actuary; she works at United American.
  • Actuarial: (adjective) a department comprised of actuaries. Kate works in the actuarial department at United American.

AGES

  • Always use numeral form. 0 to 99. Spell out months or years. See NUMBERS. We sell products to people ages 0 to 80. We have a new policy for 6 months to 120.

AMPERSAND

  • Never use unless part of a company’s formal name or title. We offer coverage for individuals and families. We receive a rating from Standard & Poor’s.

APOSTROPHE

  • Singular— Marketing’s Style Guide. Plural — workers’ compensation.

ASTERISK (*)

  • Asterisks should be placed inside of the period*.

*Luke Gilliam, October 2007.

BULLET POINTS

  • Be consistent with the form and tense of the word that begins each bulleted statement as well as the punctuation that ends the bulleted statement.
  • Pioneered “Automatic” Claims Filing.
  • Served customers since 1947.

CANCELED

  • Cancel, canceled, cancellation.

CAPITILIZATION

  • UA and industry specific words: Agent, Branch, Branch Manager, Home Office, Medicare, Medicaid, Seniors, Unit Manager. We welcomed the new Agents.
  • UA products: FLEXguardPlus, ProCare, etc. We sell ProCare to Seniors.
  • Types of products: Whole Life, Term Life, Medicare Supplement, Annuities, etc. UA’s Whole Life products sell fast.

CAPITILIZATION, continued

  • Do not capitalize types of products when used generically: Bob has a background selling whole life products.
  • Be consistent within a document: If you capitalize Group Health Plan once in a sentence, not a heading, then capitalize throughout the entire document every time it is used. UA offers a Group Health Plan. It is nice benefit to offer your employees the Group Health Plan.

CO

  • Coinsurance, copayment, and coworker.

COLD CALL / COLD-CALL

  • Cold call is a noun. Cold-call is a verb. Cold calling is a good way to find new business. The new Agent cold-called someone on our internal DNC list.

COMMAS

  • Serial comma to avoid ambiguity. Liberty National, United American, and Globe Life are subsidiaries of Torchmark Corporation.
  • Always use a comma after the city, state, or month/day/year when used in the middle of a sentence. UA will open a new office in Dallas, Texas, on July 7, 2007, to focus on our underage health products.
  • No comma after the state / before the ZIP. McKinney, Texas 75070

DASH / HYPHENS

  • En dash (short dash). Use between dates, page numbers, and other numeral references. 1947–2007.
  • Em dash (long dash). Use for emphasis in place of commas in a sentence. Always put a space before and after the em dash. Marketing is fun — and creative!
  • Hyphens are used to connect compound modifiers. We sell long-term insurance. Connect words as nouns. My brother-in-law lives in Kentucky. Connect words as verbs. I always double-space my manuscripts.

DATES

  • Never abbreviate when using month alone or month and year alone.
  • January 1959. Jan 1, 1959. Jan. 1.

DAYS OF THE WEEK

  • Home Office is open Monday through Friday.

DISCLAIMERS

  • See RATINGS.

Sales Disclaimer

This is a solicitation for insurance. You may be contacted by an Agent representing United American Insurance Company.

DISCLAIMERS, continued

Medicare Supplement Disclaimer

United American Insurance Company is not connected to or endorsed by the U.S. government, federal Medicare program, Social Security, or any other government agency.

DISEASES

  • Do not capitalize acquired immune deficiency, arthritis, cancer, etc. AIDS (acronym) is widely recognized.

E-APPLICATION

e-app. IT made several updates to the e-app.

E.G. / I.E.

  • For example (exempli gratia / e.g.) Jack likes lots of music, e.g., country, hip-hop, and alternative.
  • That is (id est / i.e.) Writers love the forest, i.e., paper comes from trees.

ELLIPSIS

  • Treat as a three-letter word and put a space before and after the text. It rained … and rained … and rained.

E-MAIL

  • E-mail. Electronic mail. Only capitalize when used at the beginning of a sentence or as a heading or link. Always hyphenate. UA uses e-mail for communication. E-mail is a fast way to send a message.

FAQ

  • Acronym for frequently asked questions. Check out our FAQ link for more information.

FEDERAL

  • Only capitalize when used as part of an official body of the U.S. government. Our industry must adhere to federal laws. The drug was approved by the Federal Drug Administration.

FIRSTHAND

  • One word. Agents have firsthand knowledge that UA is a nice place to work.

FLYER

  • Flyer instead of flier. The Agent printed 500 flyers for his Branch. I am a regular flier on Delta.

HEALTHCARE

  • One word, adjective and noun. Healthcare in America is always in the news. I just read a healthcare article in The Wall Street Journal.

HEADINGS / SUBHEADINGS

  • Capitalize each word in a heading. The entire heading may be set in CAPITALS as long as all other headings in the same document are consistent. In Business For More Than 60 Years. IN BUSINESS FOR MORE THAN 60 YEARS.
  • Capitalize the first word in a subheading. If the entire heading is set in CAPITALS, each word in the subheading may be capitalized as long as all other subheadings in the same document are consistent. In business for more than 60 years. In Business For More Than 60 Years.

IN FORCE / IN-FORCE

  • Hyphenate when used as an adjective. We have insurance in force. We have more in-force premiums than our competitor.

INPATIENT / OUTPATIENT

  • There are two forms of hospitalization: inpatient and outpatient.

LONG TERM / LONG-TERM

  • Hyphenate when used as an adjective. UA will surely be around in the long term. UA offers long-term insurance coverage.

MEDICARE (ProCare—UA and FUA)

  • UA offers nine of the 14 standardized Medicare plans: A, B, C, D, F, HDF, G, K, and L. Some states also require that designated Medicare Supplement plans be available to people under age 65 who are eligible for Medicare due to disability (different application form may be required). Policy benefits are identical for people over or under age 65. Premiums for people over age 65 vary by age and state of residence. Premiums for people under age 65 do not vary by age (there is one premium for all ages) but do vary by state of residence.

MODIFIERS

  • Avoid superfluous words that do not add value and if deleted, do not change the meaning of the sentence. Examples include very, still, and current. Why would I list an address that is not my current address?

MONEY

  • Do not use cents if there are no cents in the amount. $50.00. $50. We offer a lump-sum benefit of $5,000 or $10,000. We do not sell policies for $1 million.

MORE THAN / LESS THAN

  • Numerals, stats. SEE OVER/UNDER. UA has been in business for more than 60 years. There are less than 20 people in the Marketing department.

MULTI

  • Multimillionaire, multicolored, multitask, multifaceted, etc. Agents must multitask throughout their day to accomplish sales goals.

NUMBERS

  • Letters, memos, and magazine articles: spell out zero to nine; use numerals for 10 to 999,999. Spell out first, second, third, fourth. Spell out fractions. We added two new products this year. Next year we are adding 12 new items. Foundation is the first product of its kind. One-fourth of the Home Office staff lives in McKinney.
  • Ad copy, brochures, and web text: use numerals 0 to 999,999 for more eye-catching text. United American is ranked 4th by the NAIC. UA has been around for more than 60 years.
  • Always spell out the number if used to begin a sentence. Four companies were fined by the FCC for not complying with the Do Not Call law. Hyphenate compound numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine when used at the beginning of a sentence. Twenty-one new employees started work on Monday.
  • Always use a comma when listing numerals in the thousands, except for dates. By 2050, United American projects to have 1,000 employees working at the Home Office.
  • Spell out million, billion, trillion. We have 20 million customers.
  • Spell out numbers that don’t represent specific facts. UA has thousands of policyholders.
  • Use numerals for specific facts. UA has 55,921 policyholders.
  • Use # symbol and numeral when describing steps in text. Question #2 is optional.
  • No parentheses — three (3).

OK

  • OK in all references — never Ok or okay. After we get through Part D, everything will be OK.

OVER / UNDER

  • Spatial relationships. See MORE THAN. The cow jumped over the moon. The dog ran under the table.

PERCENT

  • Letters and magazine articles: Spell out percent. Branch Managers noticed a 15 percent increase in productivity.
  • Ad copy, brochures, memos, and web text: Use the % symbol for more eye-catching text. Branch Managers noticed a 15% increase in productivity. See WEB GUIDE.

PREFIXES (pre / post / un / mid / non / super / under / counter)

  • Do not hyphenate words beginning with prefixes unless they precede a capitalized word. Preadmission is often required for surgical procedures. Postgraduates often have to write a thesis. It is un-American not to celebrate Thanksgiving. Temperatures reach 100 degrees by mid-July. United American is nonunion. Nontobacco. Preexisting. Biannual. Semiannual.

PUNCTUATION

  • Do not use quotation marks unless it is a quote. Periods go inside parentheses only if an entire sentence is inside the parentheses. See APOSTROPHE. C.L. Dunlap once said, “It’s the people who make the Company.” United American is in Texas (McKinney). (United American is located in Texas.)

RATINGS

  • UA

For more than 30 consecutive years, United American has earned the A+ (Superior) Financial Strength Rating from A.M. Best Company (as of 6/08). We are also rated AA- “Very Strong” for Financial Strength by Standard & Poor’s (as of 11/07).

  • LNL

For more than 30 consecutive years, Liberty National has earned the A+(Superior) Financial Strength Rating from A.M. Best Company (as of 6/08). We are also rated AA- “Very Strong” for Financial Strength by Standard & Poor’s (as of 11/07), A1 for Insurer Financial Strength by Moody’s (as of 7/07), and AA “Very Strong” for Insurer Financial Strength by Fitch (as of 6/08). – verified 5/08, cg

For use on brochures if used in bulleted format.

  • A+(Superior) Financial Strength Rating from A.M. Best Company (as of 6/08).
  • AA- “Very Strong” Financial Strength Rating from Standard & Poor’s (as of 11/07)
  • A1 Insurer’s Financial Strength Rating from Moody’s (as of 7/07)
  • AA “Very Strong” Insurer’s Financial Strength Rating from Fitch (as of 6/08).

STREET ADDRESSES

  • Spell out street, boulevard, drive, avenue, lane, parkway, etc., and north, south, east, and west, when used as part of an address on formal letters/documents for a more professional look. 3700 South Stonebridge Drive.
  • UA’s Post Office address should be used when listed as a means for customer correspondence. P.O. Box 8080.

10-YEAR RENEWABLE / 20-YEAR RENEWABLE

  • Hyphenate. Our newest Agent just sold the 10-Year Renewable Term product.

TELEPHONE NUMBERS

  • Always use hyphens. Do not use periods or parentheses. 972-569-3728.

THAT, WHICH

  • That and which refer to inanimate objects or animals without a name. Both that and which provide additional information about a word or phrase in the sentence.
  • That: No commas. Essential clauses (cannot be eliminated without changing the meaning of the sentence — it so restricts the word or phrase that its absence would lead to a substantially different interpretation of what the author meant). I remember the day that we met.
  • Which: Must be offset with commas. Nonessential clauses (can be eliminated without altering the basic meaning of the sentence — it does not restrict the meaning so significantly that its absence would radically alter the author’s thought). The team, which finished last a year ago, is in first place. Which occasionally may be substituted for that in the introduction of an essential clause when that is used as a conjunction to introduce another clause in the same sentence. He said Monday that the part of the army which suffered severe casualties needs reinforcement.
  • Tip: If you can drop the clause and not lose the meaning of the sentence, use which.
  • See WHO, WHOM.

TIME

  • a.m. p.m.. Do not include minutes if there are no minutes. There is usually someone in the Marketing department from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. See TIME ZONES.

TIME FRAME

  • There is a tight time frame for submitting applications.

TIME ZONES

  • Do not use CST or CDT. Use Central time zone. Home Office is located in the Central time zone.

UAOnline

  • Not UA Online or UA OnLine.

UAPartners®/ PARTNERS PLUS

  • Partners Plus, UA Partners, and UA Partners with Provider Network Option are optional, noninsurance discount medical plans offered for a separate fee. The discount medical plans are not insurance and are not a part of any insurance policy.

UNITED AMERICAN 2007 FINANCIAL REPORTING

  • More than $1.3 billion of insurance in force; more than 600,000 policies in force.

U.S. / UNITED STATES

  • U.S. is an adjective. United States is a noun. U.S. citizens need insurance. The United States is a great country.

WEBSITE

  • Lowercase and write as one word. Check out the revised website. See WEB STYLE GUIDELINES.

WHO, WHOM

  • Who is used for references to people and animals with a name. Whom is used for objects. The woman who rented the room left the window open. The woman to whom the room was rented left the window open. See THAT, WHICH.

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION

  • Lowercase. Plural. Jack submitted a workers’ compensation claim.

ZIP code

  • ZIP is an acronym for Zoning Improvement Plan. Do not capitalize code. When using as part of an address, there should always be two spaces after the state before the ZIP code. Please include your ZIP code on the application. Mail correspondence to 3800 South Stonebridge Drive,McKinney, Texas 75070.

Name

Address

City, State ZIP

Sources:

AP Stylebook; Merriam-Webster Dictionary; FranklinCovey Style Guide

Additional Sources:

Our marketing materials, publications, and websites should, as closely as possible, mirror capitalization and terminology utilized by the U.S. government, pertaining to Medicare and other healthcare-related subjects, and industry organizations for easy identification of terms by customers when looking at our documentation.

Note:

The TMK Marketing Style Guide is to be maintained by the editorial staff in the TMK Marketing Department. Any recommendations for additions to the Style Guide must be made in writing, to the editorial staff, at which time it will be reviewed and/or approved for inclusion in the Style Guide. When new entries are added to the Style Guide, a new copy will be posted on PubFormShare.

WEB STYLE GUIDELINES

BULLET POINTS

  • Be consistent with the form and tense of the word that begins each bulleted statement as well as the punctuation that ends the bulleted statement.
  • Pioneered “Automatic” Claims Filing®.
  • Served customers since 1947.
  • Bullets should be concise.
  • Click ‘Continue’ to go to the next screen.
  • Type your name into the blank field.
  • Click ‘Complete’ to complete the transaction.

BUTTONS

  • When writing copy about which buttons to click, set off with single quotes and capitalize the word. Click the ‘Continue’ button to go to the next screen.

CLICK

  • Use click instead of hit or punch. Click the link for more information.

DROP-DOWN MENU

  • Use drop-down menu instead of pull-down menu. Click the drop-down menu to see the list of health conditions.

LOGON / LOG IN

  • Logon is a noun. Log in is a verb. Type in your logon. Students should log in and begin the e-app tutorial.

NUMBERS

  • Always use numerals, except when beginning a sentence with a number. No parentheses — three (3) — just use 3. Use commas for 1,000 and up. Spell out million, billion, trillion, but use numerals for significant digits — 5 million. Spell out numbers that don’t represent specific facts. UA has thousands of policyholders. Use numerals for specific facts. UA has 55,921 policyholders. See NUMBERS (main guide).

PERCENT

  • Use the % symbol for more eye-catching text. Branch Managers noticed a 15% increase in productivity. SEE PERCENT (main guide).

SCREEN

  • Use screen instead of page. Click ‘Continue’ to go to the next screen.

TYPE

  • Use type instead of write, enter, or key in. Type your name in the text box.

UNDERLINE

  • Do not underline text in web copy. Readers expect underlined text to perform as a hyperlink. Use bold font or capital letters to make the text stand out. Call Customer Service if you have questions on your policy.

Source: Jakob Nielson

1

11/5/18-Updated by CG