State Farm is heading back into football season with a new NFL campaign built around personalization, using familiar faces like Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid alongside new signings including Cam Skattebo, Fernando Mendoza and Curt Cignetti.

The insurer is not an official NFL sponsor, unlike its position in the NBA, which shapes how it approaches football advertising. "We always have something up our sleeve to keep football fresh," Alyson Griffin, State Farm's head of marketing, told Marketing Brew. "We're not official NFL sponsors the way we are in the NBA, for example, and so we have to move differently to break through."

The brand has a long history with football advertising despite the lack of a league deal. It has run multiple Super Bowl spots, including an Ad Meter winner, and has aired memorable NFL campaigns in previous seasons featuring figures from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce to Ted Lasso and Patrick Mahomes.

Personalization at the center

The new campaign conveys that State Farm's personalized coverage and price options differentiate it from competitors, Griffin said. Two of the ads take a meta approach: each shows a different person sitting down in front of their TV as Jake from State Farm explains they are about to watch a commercial personalized specifically for them. That kind of ad-targeting technology is not currently a reality for marketers.

The spots started running on YouTube at launch and will appear on more linear and digital platforms, including Thursday Night Football, starting in early September.

The dialogue builds on State Farm's "longstanding message" that "having insurance isn't the same as having State Farm insurance," Griffin said — a line football fans may remember from the brand's Super Bowl spot this year — while amplifying personalization options.

Directly referencing ad targeting carries some risk, given that many consumers are uncomfortable with brands using their personal data. Griffin called hyper-targeting an essential part of modern marketing.

"We do hyper-target, as most marketers do today, especially because of the distributed, distracted nature of a customer," she said. "If you don't give them the message that resonates with the thing that they're doing online, or the thing that they've already signaled that they're interested in, you just have a tougher time breaking through."

Star power, old and new

In one spot, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and longtime State Farm partner Patrick Mahomes appears on a fan's TV saying, "Hey Mike, it's your favorite quarterback." A second ad pairs Mahomes with Chiefs coach Andy Reid, a State Farm regular who is "usually a big, fun hit," according to Griffin.

A third ad introduces New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo. Set to "Getting to Know You" from The King and I, the commercial shows Jake and Skattebo spending a day together, with plenty of the running back's trademark head-butting humor.

State Farm is also rolling out ads featuring Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza and Indiana University head coach Curt Cignetti, both new signings. Cignetti's spot leans into his iconic hands-on-hips stance on the sidelines. Mendoza's ad, arriving later in the season, will focus on "his new assignment" in the Raiders' lineup, Griffin said.

The two recruits bridge college and pro football for the brand. Cignetti coaches in the Big Ten, and Mendoza — a Heisman Trophy winner — went first in this year's draft as a rookie after leading the Indiana Hoosiers to victory in his final college season. The campaign will also run against college football games, Griffin added.

Her team is tracking KPIs including lift, engagement, consideration, and resonance and understanding of the personal price plan messaging.

With the season yet to kick off, Griffin is already looking ahead to State Farm's next moves in football.

"You'll continue to see State Farm move in culture with talent and digitally, and maybe even in person, to continue to break through with that fandom," she said. "We feel pretty tied to that fandom."

Source: Marketing Brew (https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/state-farm-nfl-campaign?utm_source=&utm_medium=syndication&utm_campaign=feed)