Insurance is a tougher sell for marketers than the more tangible advertising categories, especially when it comes to younger consumers. It’s not exactly an eye-catching new car or fashion line.
So State Farm is hoping to introduce an element of fun to its otherwise actuarial discussions of premiums through gaming.
The insurance brand partnered with some of the top gaming creators and personalities on a Twitch series called The Gamerhood Challenge. The Gamerhood is a “virtual neighborhood celebrating all things gaming” populated by real gamers SypherPK, Berleezy, IM Dontai, Emme Montgomery, Alfredo Diaz, Jeremy Dooley, BlackKrystel and Michael Jones who will compete in video game challenges while facing real-world obstacles (that a State Farm policy would cover).
The winner will be named the Ultimate Gamerhood Champion, with State Farm making a $100,000 donation in their name to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
Breaking through
Alyson Griffin, vp of marketing at State Farm, said the brand is targeting millennials and Gen Z with this endeavor.
“From a gaming perspective, we know that insurance is not an exciting category—nobody cares,” she told Adweek. “People are apathetic at best. In order to break through, especially with the under-40 crowd, we’re looking to try to find these potential targets in authentic ways that are natural to them, because we recognize they’re not going to just come to us.”
Online advertising and content are common ways for brands to reach those key demographics. Gen Z and millennials rely more on online reviews (28%) and advertising (14%) for education on insurance, according to a survey by consumer analytics firm Engine Insights.
State Farm, online video production company Rooster Teeth and all eight participants streamed the game simultaneously from their own Twitch accounts. State Farm’s stream individually had more than 340,000 views.
Content creator SypherPK saw the partnership as a great chance to network and build relationships with the other creators involved in the series. “I have been wanting to expand my content into different categories,” he said. “Doing a show like The Gamerhood Challenge is definitely something that’s pulling me out of my comfort zone from my typical Fortnite, staying-at-home streams.”
Taking a nontraditional approach
Venturing into gaming is not new for State Farm. The brand has sponsored the Rocket League Championship Series and League of Legends; it also sponsored esports athlete and Fortnite streamer DrLupo in 2019.
The brand has utilized the character Jake from State Farm in many of its activations. The State Farm mascot regularly appears in commercials, but he’s also gone digital. Jake—played by actor Kevin Miles—appeared as a character interacting with players in NBA 2K22. State Farm even had a store in the game named Nghbr Goods which offered players branded merchandise.
State Farm has also utilized social media, eschewing a Super Bowl spot this year in favor of creating a TikTok challenge “to meet the next generation of consumers by showing up where they’re spending their time and in spaces that they’re interested in.”
The challenge was posted on the Jake From State Farm account. Stone said State Farm hasn’t spent any of its media budget on TikTok, and that all of its growth on the platform has been organic since last November.
The rise of the creator
Several esports brands have focused on building creator content hubs to produce original content. SypherPK launched his own brand, Oni Studios, in 2020 with his wife, Daniela Ali, to help young streamers and creators establish and build their brands in the gaming space. Ali is also CEO of the company.
Boasting 5.9 million subscribers across YouTube and Twitch, the Fortnite streamer is looking to take his brand further.
Oni Studios is in the latter stages of building its own 30,000-square-foot creator content studio where it identifies rising streamer stars and aids them in everything from video editing to content strategy. Oni Studios plans to announce its first talent class soon. It’s set to open with a staff of 50 in September in Austin, Texas.
“If someone has a wild idea or a crazy video concept, to have this studio space and the professionals in different aspects of that such as camera, audio, I feel like content creation is growing rapidly,” SypherPK said. “The next step is creators taking on big projects and bringing to life shows like The Gamerhood Challenge, but with their own unique twist and concepts.”
