The campaign will be a “test and learn” exercise featuring an online landing page with two separate sets of information—one for parents and the other for young adults. Developing content for dual audiences and housing it side-by-side on a dedicated microsite is a first for the brand, Griffin said.
Cutting the apron strings
With Griffin as a self-proclaimed Severance devotee, State Farm’s in-house team brainstormed the concept of a young adult “severing” from a parent’s insurance policy. The work intends to make a subtle connection to dual personas called “innies” and “outies” in the series.
“We flushed out the idea, talked to Ben Stiller and Adam Scott, and they were just as excited about it as we were,” said Griffin said, noting the brand has partnered with Apple TV+ in the past, via an ad starring Patrick Mahomes and Cristo Fernandez from Ted Lasso. “We promised to take good loving care of their world, and they said they’d do the same.”
State Farm and agency teams got critical intel from the show’s new season from director Stiller, which led to the goat bite reference and other IYKYK details in the content.
Creatives used actual props and sets from Severance for the campaign, which includes a 15-second vignette of a confused and frightened young driver running through Lumon’s maze-like hallways.
