State Farm Turns Creators And Gaming Into Prime Video IP

Nobody wakes up excited to purchase insurance coverage. It’s the homework of maturity; costly, complicated, and straightforward to disregard. So how does a model in one of the crucial boring classes on earth turn into a part of tradition?

Kai Cenat and Jake from State Farm on set of Gamerhood season 4, now airing on Prime Video.

State Farm Insurance

Most insurers observe the identical playbook: rent celebrities, flood TV with adverts, and depend on sponsorships to remain seen. It’s huge spending designed for attain.

Alyson Griffin, State Farm’s Head of Marketing, constructed a special plan. In a enterprise outlined by warning, she created house for creativity constructed inside construction. Guardrails come first: clear targets, KPIs, accountability. But inside these strains, she focuses on what most insurance coverage corporations overlook: emotion. Not simply recognition, however vitality. Not simply effectivity, however the dopamine hit that retains a model locked in reminiscence.

Jake From State Farm As A Creator, Not A Character

Jake from State Farm first appeared in 2011 as a khaki-clad real-life name heart worker. In 2020, State Farm reintroduced the character as one thing new: a creator. Actor Kevin Miles introduced Jake to life because the personification of “like a good neighbor,” a presence designed to interact, not simply promote.

Since then, Jake has grown far past commercials. He’s constructed over one million TikTookay followers with out paid promotion. He’s courtside at Caitlin Clark’s senior evening, buying and selling greetings with Travis Scott, and dropping into Kai Cenat’s livestreams. Today, Jake strikes by means of tradition like several high creator, giving State Farm a voice within the moments individuals care about most.

Why Jake Works: The Structure Behind State Farm’s Creator Success

Jake works as a result of he isn’t working in a vacuum; a strategic system helps his function. Griffin organizes her group round three clear outcomes: capturing present demand, producing future demand, and rising current clients.

The first bucket is about immediacy: “That’s when someone raises their hand and says, ‘I need insurance today.” These applications are measured straight by the insurance policies written.

The second bucket invests in tradition and relevance to take care of top-of-mind consciousness till clients are prepared. “In that second bucket, every dollar and every hour focuses on dopamine and serotonin; excitement, culture, relevance. Not policies,” Griffin says. “I’m not trying to get a sale with the money I’m spending. I’m ensuring we’re in the top two consideration set, so when someone is ready for insurance, they already think of us.”

The third grows current relationships by means of retention, loyalty, and cross-selling.

Jake and State Farm’s broader creator technique reside squarely in that second bucket. His function isn’t to shut a transaction; it’s to maintain consideration alive and hold the model in tradition. That’s why he reveals up in surprising locations, similar to a Jeopardy! clue, a Saturday Night Live skit, and even in a trailer for Spike Lee’s movie, Highest to Lowest. Out of a two-hour film, the 90-second trailer featured Jake, proof that the character has crossed from promoting into leisure.

How Creators Beat Traditional Media: Engagement Wins Every Time

For Griffin, creators signify one of the crucial efficient methods to achieve and have interaction audiences. “Creators have become a superior media channel. They don’t just deliver eyeballs; they deliver engagement,” she stated.

This isn’t simply idea. Independent testing backs it up. Element Human, which makes use of behavioral AI to measure artistic effectiveness, analyzed a current Jake collaboration with creator Daniel LaBelle. In the video, LaBelle faces more and more chaotic conditions, every time saved by Jake’s arrival. The content material drew 300,000 views and practically 1,000 feedback, however the true perception was how audiences felt whereas watching.

“We saw an 81% attention rate, an outlier in insurance campaigns,” stated Steph Money, VP GTM for Element Human. “More importantly, we tracked clear spikes in happiness and surprise as the story unfolded. That emotional rollercoaster is why viewers remember the content long after they scroll past.”

Element Human calls this development “See. Feel. Remember.” It’s the impact Griffin means when she talks about sparking dopamine. The emotional connection interprets into measurable enterprise influence: the marketing campaign delivered an 18 share level elevate in top-of-mind consciousness and a 15 share level improve in buy intent, considerably outperforming trade benchmarks.

That method turns into particularly essential given State Farm’s aggressive drawback. Progressive and Geico spend greater than 4 instances as a lot on promoting. Griffin’s problem: if State Farm is simply on TV as soon as an hour, that second should break by means of. “Every at-bat must get on base because I cannot afford just to be present with all the shouting in my category,” Griffin defined.

Which is why she leans on creators. “I’ve got to use these creators and get a one-to-one direct relationship with their audiences to break through. And I don’t think our competitors think of it that way; they rely primarily on traditional media.”

Creators give her that edge. By constructing emotional connections with audiences, they ship influence that conventional media alone can’t match.

From Gaming Competition To Entertainment IP On Prime Video

Before State Farm, Griffin held senior roles at Hewlett-Packard and Intel. At HP, she launched the Omen gaming PC. At Intel, she helped deliver esports into the Olympics. Her tech background gave her a head begin. She knew gaming wasn’t a distinct segment; it was a large group. “This is the new football stadium. People spend hours watching streams the same way they watch sports,” Griffin stated.

When Griffin arrived at State Farm, she evaluated the model’s gaming investments. Much of it was conventional emblem placements and sponsorships. “I looked at what we were spending on gaming and thought: It’s a lot of money, but is it making an impact?”

That perspective led to Gamerhood, a contest sequence launched on Twitch in 2022. The idea was easy however sticky: put creators in a home and throw disasters at them; earthquakes, burst pipes, hurricanes, and see if they might cope. It was leisure that subtly educated youthful audiences about insurance coverage whereas letting them watch their favourite avid gamers carry out below strain.

The sequence constructed momentum season by season, evolving from a gaming experiment in season one to a four-season leisure franchise. Season two expanded the solid and challenges, whereas season three scaled up with reality-style confessionals, charity tie-ins, and over 23 million views. Season 4 pushed into the mainstream, including Kai Cenat to returning captains Ludwig, Mark Phillips, and Berleezy, alongside stars like Valkyrae and Cameron Brink.

The Prime Video Breakthrough For State Farm

Season 4 marks a turning level. State Farm designed it from the beginning with streaming in thoughts, and it options broader expertise, greater storylines, and extra leisure worth. The objective wasn’t simply one other season on Twitch; it was to create a present that would sit alongside mainstream programming.

That ambition turns into actual at the moment, with Gamerhood premiering on Prime Video. It’s one of many first brand-created sequence to safe a spot on a world streaming platform. “We believe Gamerhood is our IP,” Griffin explains. “Prime lets us reach a wider audience while staying true to what makes the series work. For us, it’s not just a distribution deal, it’s proof that a brand can create a show with enough gravity to belong next to mainstream entertainment.”

The Blueprint For State Farm’s Brand Relevance

Every model needs to be in tradition. Few succeed.

State Farm reveals how. Start with fundamentals: clear aims, potent model symbols, and disciplined KPIs. Then, layer in a long-term view that treats creators and platforms as core media channels, not afterthoughts.

This stability of self-discipline and emotion turned Jake from State Farm right into a cultural presence and constructed Gamerhood into an ownable franchise. And at the moment, with its premiere on Prime Video, State Farm proves that even a model in one of many least glamorous classes can create leisure that belongs on the identical stage as mainstream programming.

The lesson is larger than insurance coverage: with the fitting blueprint, all manufacturers can earn a spot in tradition.