Despite finalizing its three-year MLB sponsorship just weeks before the start of the 2015 season, Allstate’s direct-to-consumer Esurance brand is calling the first year of its MLB sponsorship an unqualified success.
Esurance CMO Alan Gellman said that sponsoring online All-Star Game balloting, as well as a memorable ad with San Francisco Giants catcher Buster Posey and sponsorship of the postseason awards show, helped amass 4 billion impressions this year. Since the primary objective of the sponsorship was building brand awareness: Mission accomplished.
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The Giants’ Buster Posey starred in an Esurance spot.
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“It’s not just about impressions,” Gellman said. “When you get that kind of scale, the next question is engagement. We saw a record 620 million votes. Great social media reach increases lifts in key business metrics, brand awareness and request for online quotes and business overall.” Among baseball fans, Esurance saw lifts in awareness and consideration higher than the general population.
GMR negotiated and activated the MLB rights for Esurance.
“Balloting was a home run, the connection from Esurance to Posey was strong, and we still see lots more upside to making the MLB Awards into something as far-reaching as NFL Honors,” said Adam Lippard, GMR executive vice president. “For the initial year, we blew the doors off.”
In the ultra-competitive insurance category, where media and sports spending totals in the billions, every brand is challenged to be heard above the continuous marketing cacophony.
“If you don’t have enough share of voice in this category, you can get lost in the crowd,” Gellman said. “So you’re not only looking to grow, you’re looking to not decline in the face of substantial marketing investments by competitors. We’re still growing.”
MLB had been without an insurance sponsor since State Farm left after the 2012 season. Esurance and The Hartford split the category this year.
