Esurance: #ESURANCESAVE30

Credits & Description:

Type of entry: Media: Digital & Social
Category: Use of Social Platforms
Advertiser: ESURANCE
Product/Service: ESURANCE
Agency: STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Chicago, USA

Client: ESURANCE
Product: ESURANCE
Entrant: STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Chicago, USA
Type of Entry: Media: Digital & Social
Category: Use of Social Platforms
Advertising Agency : LEO BURNETT CHICAGO, USA
Media Agency : STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Chicago, USA
Entrant Company : STARCOM MEDIAVEST GROUP Chicago, USA

Svp/Group Media Director: Gina Broderick (Starcom Mediavest Group)
Vp/Media Director: Joel Yeomans (Starcom Mediavest Group)
Svp/Media Director: James Crolley (Starcom Mediavest Group)
Associate Media Director: Ed Hausser (Starcom Mediavest Group)
Media Supervisor: Colleen Sowislo (Starcom Mediavest Group)
Chief Creative Officer: Susan Credle (Leo Burnett)
Svp/Creative Director: Brian Shembeda (Leo Burnett)
Acd/Copywriter: Jeff Candido (Leo Burnett)
Associate Creative Director: Jesse Dillow (Leo Burnett)
Associate Creative Director: Travis Lampe (Leo Burnett)
Svp/Account Director: Susan Stefaniak (Leo Burnett)
Vp/Account Director: Josh Raper (Leo Burnett)
Executive Producer: Matt Blitz (Leo Burnett)
Vp/Director Of Games: Amanda Mckinney (Arc)
Vp/Strategic Planning Director: Beth Hooper (Leo Burnett)
Vp/Marketing: Darren Howard (Esurance)
Director/Media: Helena Ghez (Esurance)
Vp/Advertising: Nancy Abraham (Esurance)
Social Media Manager: Shannon Greevy (Esurance)
Director/Digital Marketing: Suzy Gambin (Esurance)

Results and Effectiveness:
Leveraging the Twitter platform and spending a fraction of the other Super Bowl advertisers, in the first 60 minutes we saw 224,000 responses. In the 36 hours after the commercial ran, there were 5.4 Million hashtag uses leading to 2.6 Billion social media impressions. Based on similar efforts against similar projected audiences, we expected a response of approximately 1.8 Million entries. Without requiring follows, our Twitter followers jumped from below 9,000 to over 270,000 in 36 hours, an increase of almost 3000%. We received 550MM Media impressions and “won the Super Bowl” without even being in it.

Creative Execution:
To prove that Esurance passes their savings on to customers, we came up with a simple idea. We bought the first commercial after the Super Bowl, which saved us $1.5 million versus the cost of an in-game spot. Then, we took the $1.5 million and promised to give it to one lucky winner. To enter, people simply had to use #EsuranceSave30 on Twitter. Before the commercial aired, we created excitement by teasing the idea on web, print, social media and television.

By using a pallet of money, we were able to show consumers the tangible benefit of being a part of a smarter company. By challenging the efficiency of Super Bowl ads, we were able to create relevant scale. We conceptually and visually represented the benefit Esurance had been espousing for years – Esurance is built to save money, and when they save, they pass the savings on to their customer.

Insights, Strategy and the Idea:
Insurance is an “uninspectable” category with an intangible product filled with messages of arbitrary savings. Esurance is a relative unknown in the category with unaided awareness 350% lower than our strongest direct competitor. On top of that, we were being significantly outspent in the marketplace. Esurance needed higher awareness to be competitive and we wanted to show consumers the impact of smarter thinking and the power of efficiency.

The Super Bowl provides a huge audience but it is crowded and expensive. Our goal was to create a program that would capture the attention of our core audience, self-directed 30-something’s, and encourage them to continue to spread the word. We wanted to create buzz that was inextricably linked to who Esurance was as a company. Not a branded stunt.