Esurance Save 30
Esurance, an insurance provider, faced low brand awareness and was significantly outspent by competitors. They needed to make a bold statement on the biggest advertising day of the year to capture widespread attention and increase brand recognition among a broad audience, despite budget constraints.
Creative Idea
Esurance gave away Super Bowl ad savings to one lucky person via Twitter.
Esurance skipped a costly Super Bowl ad, buying the first post-game spot instead, saving $1.5 million. They then gave this entire saving to one lucky person, leveraging efficiency and generosity to generate massive social media buzz and solve their low brand awareness problem on the biggest advertising day.
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
Esurance possessed the agility and commitment to pass significant savings directly to consumers, demonstrating their efficiency.
Category
The insurance category suffered from low brand awareness and intense competition, with brands typically outspending each other on ads.
Customer
Consumers were eager for financial relief and excited by the chance to win a life-changing sum, responding to genuine generosity.
Culture
The Super Bowl represented the peak of advertising and cultural conversation, offering a massive stage for an unconventional statement.
Company
Esurance possessed the agility and commitment to pass significant savings directly to consumers, demonstrating their efficiency.
Category
The insurance category suffered from low brand awareness and intense competition, with brands typically outspending each other on ads.
Strategy:
Leverage unconventional spending to generate disproportionate earned media and engagement.
Customer
Consumers were eager for financial relief and excited by the chance to win a life-changing sum, responding to genuine generosity.
Culture
The Super Bowl represented the peak of advertising and cultural conversation, offering a massive stage for an unconventional statement.
Strategy:
Leverage unconventional spending to generate disproportionate earned media and engagement.
Results
Esurance's Super Bowl Twitter contest received 200,000 entries in one minute. In one hour, it became the top Twitter trend in the world. In 36 hours, 5.3 million people were spreading their message, resulting in more mentions than #SuperBowl and every other Super Bowl advertiser. It garnered 5.3 million tweets, 550 million media impressions, and 2.6 billion social impressions. Esurance "won the Super Bowl conversation without even airing an ad during the game." The campaign solved an "awareness problem." The initiative also "forever changed one family's life" by awarding them $1.5 million in cash.
200,000
Twitter entries in one minute
2.6 billion
social impressions
$1.5 million
given to one family
Strategy Technique
Break a Category Convention
Esurance defied the industry norm of heavy Super Bowl ad spending by opting for a post-game spot. This unconventional approach highlighted their efficiency and generated significant earned media.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Consumer contest
The campaign centered on a massive cash giveaway, directly engaging consumers to spread the message. This contest created immediate excitement and a viral incentive for participation.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
This campaign's exceptional craft lies in its brilliant media planning, leveraging a clever media strategy with social media engagement and celebrity endorsement to create massive buzz and tangible impact. The synergy of media placement, social activation, and a compelling prize delivered outstanding results.
Strategically purchasing the first ad spot *after* the Super Bowl and using the savings for a social media contest was a masterstroke, generating conversation beyond the game itself.
The seamless integration of the social media call-to-action (#EsuranceSave30) with the traditional broadcast ad and the real-time tracking of Twitter trends showcased strong digital execution.
The campaign's success came from the perfect synergy between a disruptive media buying strategy, a clear social media call-to-action, a high-value prize, and celebrity endorsement, all orchestrated to generate widespread earned media and engagement.
