Dive Brief:

• State Farm has unveiled a new campaign timed to the kickoff of the NFL season that taps into football’s cultural relevance while also promoting the company’s bundling capabilities and Personal Price Plan, per details shared with Marketing Dive.
• Key to the campaign is the release of three new commercials throughout the season that feature talent including Cristo Fernández (“Ted Lasso”), Detroit Lions defensive lineman Aidan Hutchinson, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid.
• The campaign will run across linear, digital, social media, online video and streaming and also includes a tie-up with Amazon Prime’s Thursday Night Football. The effort was made with The Marketing Arm alongside agencies Optimum Sports, OMD and FleishmanHillard.

Dive Insight:

State Farm’s strategy of hooking younger consumers in hopes of keeping them for life depends on being culturally relevant, a status it has sought to achieve routinely through its ties to football. Stunts like pairing brand character Jake from State Farm with Travis Kelce’s mother, Donna, to comment on the NFL star’s buzzy relationship with Taylor Swift and tapping TikTok creator Khaby Lame for an effort around Super Bowl LVII (played at State Farm Stadium) can help the brand garner earned media and give media-savvy consumers the impression that the company is driving the culture rather than reacting to it.

“State Farm is always moving at the pace of culture to stand out in a crowded marketplace,” said Kristyn Cook, State Farm’s chief agency, sales and marketing officer, in a statement provided to Marketing Dive. “Our marketing campaigns tell stories and create memorable experiences for fans.”

The insurance company’s latest football campaign launches ahead of this season’s kickoff and centers around the concept of bundling, whether that be through combining unexpected talents or bundling football and fútbol — a word that has found itself as the center of an age-old debate — together similarly to how the brand can bundle insurance policies.

The campaign debuts today (Aug. 28) with the launch of “Bundle is Life” featuring the Chiefs’ Mahomes, Jake from State Farm and “Ted Lasso” star Fernández, whose character on the show is known for saying “fútbol is life.” In the spot, Mahomes and Jake are seen watching Fernández dribble a football-shaped soccer ball down a field, chanting, “Bundle is life.” Mahomes explains that the young man became so excited by State Farm’s bundling abilities that he combined the two sports into one. As the explanation finishes, Fernández kicks the ball over a soccer goal and through a football goal’s uprights for a field goal.

Throughout the season, State Farm will also release two additional spots, one featuring Mahomes and coach Reid and another with the Lions’ Hutchinson, with both spots also featuring State Farm’s spokescharacter while nodding to “bundling the unexpected.” Additionally, the campaign includes an expanded partnership with Amazon’s Thursday Night Football for both co-branded commercials and half-time features.

Beyond football, State Farm has sought other methods to capture the essence of buzzy marketing. For instance, the brand last November rolled out its biggest creative effort in three years with a focus on its jingle and a cadre of famous faces for its first major work from agency Highdive.