State Farm wanted to demonstrate its commitment and trustworthiness to Hispanic, bi-cultural consumers ages 18 to 49. The Marketing Arm set out to bring State Farm’s “Get To A Better State” promise to life in an appealing and relevant way by demonstrating that State Farm cares about getting customers to a better state in the context of their family, place, values and history.
Partnering with Uncharted Play—the maker of sOccket, a soccer ball that harnesses and stores energy from play for later use as a portable power source in resource-poor areas—and the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup Soccer Tournament, State Farm created the “Juega Hoy. Ilumina el Mañana.” (Play Today. Illuminate Tomorrow.) program.
Online, a special tab on State Farm’s Latino Facebook page served as the hub, including information on how to participate, freestyler videos, an online game (“My Play for Light”), the “Kick4aCause” iPhone app, and a video about the sOccket ball.
The State Farm sOccket Experience traveled to seven cities that hosted games for the 2011 Gold Cup tournament. At “State Farm Field,” a constructed soccer field and dome tent in a parking lot outside each stadium, consumers ran through a series of soccer drills and attempted shots on goal while powering the ball. “Fútbol Freestylers” entertained the crowd, performing tricks and bringing in select fans to participate as part of the show. At the four largest stops on the tour, former Mexican National Team star Ramon Ramirez appeared, interacting with fans, signing autographs and taking photos.
In the tent, consumers could learn about the technology inside the ball, vote for the country they’d like to donate sOccket balls to, try out the Kick4acause app on an iPhone, snap a picture of a QR code to download it for their personal phone and have a keepsake photo taken against a Gold Cup/sOccket-branded back wall.
Overall, fans generated 30,000 minutes of energy through more than 142,000 minutes of play over a 30-day period. The top-three countries—Mexico, El Salvador and Costa Rica—received 1,500 sOccket balls.
Since the end of the promotional period, State Farm’s AUIs (quotes) and Raw New Production (policy sales) have achieved 30% and 31% growth (respectively). Measurements for State Farm’s “Cares about and Supports the Community” attributes improved by 11% year over year.
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