Ahead of the tee-off of the Farmers Insurance Open, name sponsor Farmers created two parallel golf marketing campaigns – ‘Tournament Ready’ & ‘Golf Appropriate Ads’ – to further the financial brand’s ongoing support of the sport.
Working with agency RPA, the campaigns rolled out ahead of the 2019 Farmers Insurance Open (presented by Michelob Ultra) running from 24 to 27 January.
The initial ‘Tournament Ready’ campaign, launched in December 2018, was fronted by Farmers’ athlete ambassador and PGA tour star Rickie Fowler and revolved around the idea that a little bit of preparation can go a long way.
The comic spot sees Fowler share his insights on how he gets ready for a big golf tournament and showcases his eccentric, strange methods.
The video sees Fowler ask his caddy to spray him with water in case it rains during the game and pulling golf carts for strength training and the message is that ‘when you prepare for everything, you know how to handle almost anything’
The ad closes with the endline: “In golf (and insurance), it all comes down to experience.”
The other, parallel marketing burst break ahead of the tee-off aimed to show how polite and proper golf etiquette means that fans to be quiet and respectful of the players whilst on the course.
The campaign tactic was for Farmers to extend this etiquette to its in-tournament commercials and so the brand’s marketers created ‘Golf Appropriate’ versions of their own existing ‘Hall Of Claims’ commercial series.
Each reworked spot begins with the well known golf course ‘Quiet’ paddle signs shown in the frame: an action that operates as a prompt for the creative narrative itself to respect course etiquette.
So dialogue during the spots is whispered, while panicked screams are muffled.
The first spot is called ‘Fly-By Ballooning’,
(The original version of the ad aired in November 2018).
The second spot is called ‘Parking Splat’.
(The original version of the ad aired in November 2018).
Even the well known Farmers marketing jingle got the quiet treatment.
The campaign was created for Farmers Insurance by an RPA team that included EVP and chief creative officer Joe Baratelli, SVP and executive creative director Pat Mendelson, VP and creative director Hobart Birmingham, VP and creative director Perrin Anderson, copywriter Donovan Le, art director Eli Ching, associate creative director Guy Overfelt, chief production officer Gary Paticoff, director of video production Selena Pizarro, plus senior producer Kay Lynn Dutcher, associate digital producer Matt Valdepena and video production coordinator Madi Miller.
Editing was handled by Cut and Run, the executive producer was Amburr Farls and the editor was Russell Anderson.
Comment:
Fowler is often a funny pitchman
and he certainly shows his tongue-in-cheek character in the first activation strand, while reworking current mainstream marketing creative to fit a sponsorship property is certainly joined up thinking.
The brand first became the title partner of the PGA Tour tournament played at Torrey Pines Golf Course in San Diego, California (not far from its Los Angeles company headquarters) back in 2010.
This year’s activation follows on from the brand’s 2018 campaign which aimed to raise awareness across the USA of the dangers of distracted driving.
Last year[s work was built from insights developed from NHTSA research showing that at any given daytime moment more than 660,000 Americans are driving while distracted.
Again, Farmers combined its ambassador alliance with Rickie Fowler and its sponsorship of the 2018 Farmers Insurance Open to create a cause marketing platform that aimed to reinforce the perils of distracted driving.
Fowler, a well known car enthusiast, starred in three spots debuting during the tournament
And the player also promoted the campaign and the cause across his own personal social channels.
As well as backing the Farmers Insurance Open since 2010, other recent properties and proposed partnerships within the brand’s past sports sponsorship portfolio include sponsoring the No 5 Chevrolet SS (driven by Kasey Kahne for Hendrick Motorsports) in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series up until 2017 and the proposed title sponsorship of the cancelled Farmers Field LA stadium project for the Rams and Chargers which was abandoned after the Kroenke Sports & Entertainment group announced plans for its own new LA sports stadium.
Links:
Farmers Insurance
https://www.facebook.com/FarmersInsurance
https://twitter.com/wearefarmers
https://www.instagram.com/wearefarmers/
https://www.youtube.com/user/farmersinsurance
RPA
Farmers Insurance Open
https://www.farmersinsuranceopen.com/
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