Leading US insurers are changing their advertising emphasis from plain old marketing messages to a new focus on preparing for the worst.

According to US advertising publication Brandweek, the change has been forced on the insurers by consumer anger and uncertainty following Hurricane Katrina.

US insurers have enjoyed a good reputation with consumers for many years, but publicity over the huge number of denied claims for flood damage after Katrina has soured the relationship.

Allstate is one insurer now using advertising to urge people to prepare properly for a disaster by storing food in their basements, and it’s also pointing out what insurance does and doesn’t do.

Brandweek says the industry is using business publications like the Wall Street Journal to influence opinion leaders. Allstate Chief Marketing Officer Joe Tripodi says there needs to be more awareness of the realistic role of insurance.

“The insurance business is really built on high-frequency but low-severity events like fender-benders or house fires,” he said. “Allstate and other majors are not set up to deal with multiple mega-catastrophes every year.”