American Family Insurance joined the party late this year, although no one should be surprised. After all - what’s more American than the Super Bowl? Their participation in this year’s Big Game (their Third Super Bowl appearance) went public only on December 17th, when Strickman-Ripps started casting people for the ad. AmFam has decided to skip the national ad this year and focus on regional advertising.
Regional ads allowed AmFam to target diverse markets in a custom-tailored way. Since the insurance company only operates in 19 States, they have selected 70 regional markets where they aired commercials during the game. The ad reached 1/3 of the Super Bowl audience and cost approximately $1.5 million. Most ads were 30-seconds long, but they aired a longer, 60-second spot, in areas where the insurance giant is less well known.
Super Bowl ads experience
Pro
Agency
Last year AmFam worked with Ogilvy & Mather in Chicago but when the agency took on their rivals (and fellow Super Bowl advertisers) Nationwide Insurance, American Family promptly dropped them, according to AdWeek. Their new agency is the New York based BBDO, who has plenty of experience with Super Bowl commercials. BBDO has produced countless Game Day favorites over the years, including Bud Light’s “Up For Whatever” ad last year and this unforgettable Ray Charles Diet Pepsi commercial from back in 1991.