Company: State Farm Insurance, Bloomington, IL
Nomination Submitted by: The MRN Agency
Company Description: At State Farm, the mission is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected, and realize their dreams. State Farm is passionate and driven to create possibilities, and is serious about helping customers by providing solutions for all of life’s moments. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.
Nomination Category: Marketing Campaign Categories - Specialty
Nomination Sub Category: Youth Marketing Campaign of the Year
 Nomination Title: Jake Gets Social
- Which will you submit for this nomination, a video of up to five (5) minutes in length about the nominated campaign or program, OR written answers to the questions for this category? CHOOSE ONE:
Written answers to the questions
- If you are submitting a video of up to five (5) minutes in length, provide the URL of the nominated video here, OR attach it to your entry via the "Add Attachments, Videos, or Links to This Entry" link above, through which you may also upload a copy of your video.
N/A
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this first question: Specify the date on which this campaign or program was launched:
2023
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this second question: Describe the genesis of the nominated campaign or program: the reasons it was initiated, the challenges it was created to address, the problems it was developed to solve, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 144 words used.
State Farm and creative agency TMA built a home for Jake from State Farm on TikTok to reach younger audiences, increase cultural resonance, and drive relatability. Jake has become a TikTok creator, proving that a 100-year-old insurance brand can kick it with Gen-Z and find success by rooting its strategy in culture, creator collaboration, and community-building.
Content is created exclusively for TikTok to build Jake’s persona and differentiate it from other marketing mediums. Instead of sticking to the books with video cut-downs, brand messaging, or #InsuranceTok, Jake jumps on trends, shares hot takes, and spreads “good neighbor” vibes. He also slips in the memes because we’ve got to give the people what they want, right? Jake regularly sports the cleanest fits for #FashionTikTok (“uhh ... khakis?”), gets in on #LetsPlay (gaming), and participates in other trending conversations normally out of reach for insurance brands.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this third question: Describe the development of the campaign or program: the planning process, the goal setting, the creative and media development, the scheduling, etc. (up to 250 words):
Total 160 words used.
With a goal to emphasize Jake's status as a consumer-facing ambassador, his TikTok is fresh and bears the trappings of a personal account, not a corporate channel. He participates in trending challenges and shows off his iconic red and khaki look via #FitCheck.
State Farm wanted to leverage the incredible brand ambassador they already had to attract the Millennial and Gen-Z audience. However, with influencer culture rising, it was a challenge to place Jake from State Farm among the ranks of popular creators. TikTok has grown exponentially since its creation, highlighting creators from different walks of life and allowing each user the accessibility to talk about themes related to insurance. State Farm understood they needed to expand past the insurance narrative on the platform and position Jake from State Farm as a true user. To reach consumers most authentically, Jake’s TikTok needed to eschew the rigidity of a corporate brand and emphasize how he is simply a good (virtual!) neighbor.
- If you are providing written answers to the questions for this category, you must answer this fourth question: Outline the activities and concrete results of this campaign or program since the beginning of 2022. Even if your initiative started before 2022, limit your response to activities and results since the beginning of 2022 only (up to 250 words):
Total 195 words used.
To reach new audiences and build Jake’s community, he partnered with countless creators across a mix of content styles and demographic contributing to an estimated 1M+ followers. With each collaboration, Jake unexpectedly stars in the creator’s storytelling and drives followers to his page to check out another video featuring the creator.
Always-on community engagement allows Jake to interact with fans while seeking trending conversations to further engage the TikTok community. Custom responses allow Jake to show up in a self-aware way in comments on his TikTok videos (reactive) and relevant viral content (proactive). Prioritizing this has led to more than 3,760 custom engagements, garnering 1.47M comment likes and 9.6K replies.
This casual content has built Jake's presence as a Gen Z-approved creator. Jake’s channel has grown to 1M followers and reached 2.4M likes in 2023. While the State Farm brand is ubiquitous, Jake’s growing follower and engagement metrics indicate that Gen-Z and Millennial consumers intentionally seek out, relate to, and engage with the brand through Jake as a cultural figure. From 1/1/2023 – 7/31/23, Jake’s audience consumption time was 76K hours and he holds an avg. engagement rate of 8.9%.
- You have the option to reference here any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
Total 1 words used.
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