I would like to give Farmer’s Insurance and their Ad Agency, RPA, a round of applause for a great campaign in two of the most important aspects. They position themselves differently, yet effectively, and have great storytelling.
Farmer’s Insurance is killing it with their ad campaign, “We know a thing or two because we have seen a thing or two”. They position themselves with quality at the center of their message. They tell a wild and weird story about some obscure and funny claim no one could think of, and then tell the person walking through, what is either a museum or massive trophy case, how they covered it. They distance themselves from cutting costs and saving money like most others are shouting nowadays Progressive has their “Name your price tool”, Geico has “Save 15% in 15 minutes or less” and Aflac’s campaigns that no one remembers and I could not find, except for the Duck, their most recent commercial outlined their speedy claim filling times.
The great storytelling is what makes you remember. J.K. Simmons as a great actor for the role, and I am not sure if anyone else could do better. They pull you in and entertain you, people enjoy watching their commercials; granted I don’t have numbers this is just my opinion. The best part in my opinion, they don’t show you their intentions or who they are until the end when you are already laughing and watching.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when people try to sell you before giving you something. Commercials are exchanging something for your attention. To get your attention they must make you feel something and in exchange you give them your attention. It starts with the advertisement, which usually fails, and ends with the person watching.
They are doing all this great work with a fraction of the media budget. According to an SNL financial report in 2013, Farmers ranks as only the 8th highest spender. Geico spends $963 million, Progressive spends $604.3 million and according to Kantar media Aflac spend $112 million in 2013, which is probably why I don’t remember them. Farmer’s Insurance spends only $180 million in according to the same SNL report mentioned above.
So, hats off to you Farmers, keep it up.
Gage Bauer 