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State Farm is doing some spring cleaning.<\/p>\n
With the WNBA season and the weather both heating up as the NBA season winds down, the insurance company, which is deeply invested in basketball across multiple leagues, debuted a new brand platform starting with an ad featuring one of the biggest names on its sponsorship roster: Caitlin Clark.<\/p>\n
The platform, called \u201cWith the Assist,\u201d will serve as a long-term unifier across State Farm\u2019s marketing, with content \u201cspotlighting real-life assists on and off the court,\u201d according to Kristyn Cook, State Farm\u2019s chief agency, sales, and marketing officer.<\/p>\n
In the first ad under the platform, Clark, who\u2019s famous for sinking 3-point shots from the logo at center court, notes that everything seems to be easier for her from the logo\u2014at which point brand mascot Jake from State Farm paints the company\u2019s three circles on different spots around her house so Clark can do things like open pickle jars and sort laundry with ease.<\/p>\n
Cook said the decision to center the debut ad around Clark was designed to capitalize on her popularity heading into her second season in the WNBA.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to stand out among nonendemic brands in particular, and part of that is knowing when to look around the corner and move,\u201d Cook told Marketing Brew. \u201cWe knew that as [Clark] goes into her second year, there\u2019s going to be a lot of eyeballs and attention on these moments in particular. Timing often is everything, so when you can align the timing for a new platform with something where culture is finding itself too, it just makes sense for us to lean in there.\u201d<\/p>\n