WNBA Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark knows a thing or two about rookie moves.
But in a new co-branded ad from State Farm and ESPN, rookie moves are less of the 3-point variety and more about those embarrassing first-time mistakes—like, for instance, a young driver accidentally crashing a car through a garage door.
A spot where Clark is summoned to the scene of the incident is the latest addition to State Farm’s “The Right Kind of Magic” campaign, which started running last year with a series of ads that show celebrities appearing at minor calamities, or “insurable moments,” as State Farm Head of Marketing Alyson Griffin put it.
The spot, a collaboration between State Farm and Disney’s ESPN, marks Clark’s third appearance in the “Right Kind of Magic” campaign after she made her debut in a spot released around this time last year. Even though Clark’s rookie season in the W has come to a close, Griffin said she expects the Fever guard’s stellar reputation will help State Farm stand out to fans and boost brand metrics like awareness, consideration, preference, and purchasing intent.
“We don’t believe that Caitlin’s star power dims any less now that the season is over,” Griffin told Marketing Brew. “She’s still very relevant.”
Wrong kind of rookie
In keeping with the format of the rest of the “Right Kind of Magic” ads, the newest spot includes Jake from State Farm, who’s summoned to the scene after Clark says the brand’s jingle. ESPN sideline reporter Cassidy Hubbarth also appears in the 30-second ad, which started running on the network Thursday.
State Farm provided the creative parameters of the calamity situation, and the Disney team came up with the idea to use Clark, who’s been working with State Farm since her college days, and to play on the term “rookie,” Griffin said. The Disney team also suggested involving Hubbarth, which worked well for State Farm, since the company has been working to support women in sports beyond athletes, Griffin said.
Dream team
Teaming up with a media company to make ads is a tried and true strategy for State Farm, and Disney has become a go-to partner, according to Griffin. The companies have worked together on basketball content in the past, including State Farm’s sponsorships of docuseries The Last Dance and Full Court Press.
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Data has indicated that endemic advertising, meaning either ads that run against basketball games and feature basketball players or ads running on ESPN that use ESPN talent, perform better for State Farm than nonendemic spots, Griffin said.
For instance, TV measurement company EDO found that during the 2023-24 college basketball season, ads for State Farm that featured Clark were 46% more effective at driving engagement than the brand’s average ad, and were an additional 28% more effective when they aired during Iowa Hawkeyes games (where Clark was playing at the time of EDO’s research).
“Insurance is not a topic that anyone cares about,” Griffin acknowledged, “so for us to be clever and stand out in environments is critical because of the topic that we’re discussing…The times when our media buy performs the best is when it’s relevant to the topic at hand.”