After retaining lead duties on the account for a brand revival following an unofficial creative review, DDB Chicago is launching a new campaign for State Farm, complete with a fresh tagline.
It appears that after over 40 years, the brand’s iconic “Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” is being pushed aside in favor of the new “Here to help life go right.” Accompanying the new tagline is a new brand positioning, with State Farm depicted as not just being there for customers when things go wrong, but also helping to “make life go completely right.” DDB Chicago worked with State Farm’s in-house team and “a variety of supporting agencies” on a new anthem spot.
Everything about the 60-second “Wrong/Right” is a complete departure from the agency’s most recent efforts for the brand.
Replacing The Coneheads is a more serious, cinematic ad with a young boy providing a voiceover contemplating where State Farm would be in a world where things stopped going wrong. If a child pontificating about how a pseudo-utopian scenario would impact a life insurance company seems strange, well, it is. After opening on a tornado turning into a rainbow, the voiceover begins, “What if we just woke up one day and everything just stopped going wrong?” as he pedals off to school on his bike. It’s a fair enough question, perhaps a bit advanced but not beyond the inquisitive mind of a child. When he specifically asks how the scenario would impact State Farm, though, things start to feel a little forced and incongruous.
“Being a good neighbor is about being ‘here’ in all of life’s moments,” State Farm’s chief agency, sales and marketing officer Rand Harbert told Adweek. “Technology has had a dramatic impact on the way customers interact with businesses, but it can’t replace the value of human connections. Relationships are more important now than ever.”
The spot will make its broadcast debut tonight during the first game of the NBA Finals, with additional spots exploring the same theme rolling out during the series. It will be interesting to see where DDB Chicago and company take the brand with the new approach.