The insurance industry struggles to connect with younger demographics in a crowded advertising space. Traditional marketing methods are seen as less effective. In 2020, State Farm revived a beloved character from an old commercial - Jake from State Farm - to grow relevance with younger audiences. While the unassuming, khaki-clad guy had morphed into one of the internet’s biggest memes, Jake’s revival had a bigger ambition: help State Farm exist in popular culture like no other company had done before. This year the brand took their best asset to new heights to increase brand awareness, engagement, and positive brand perception among Gen Z and Millennials.

After a year of research and creative development, in 2020 a new Jake from State Farm was born to the world, not just in commercials, but as a living, breathing presence in pop culture. We maintained his core traits - the friendly "good neighbor" - but updated his image for today's audience.

The new Jake lives in the real world. Every part of him is considered, from the attention-to-detail of his outfits and the events he attends, through to a social strategy that balances trend-jacking and trend-setting for optimum engagement and reach. Exploring one cultural moment to the next, Jake is more than an influencer or corporate spokesperson, he is a public figure who is welcomed on star-studded red carpets and at the hottest events on the calendar.

Core to our approach is ensuring Jake’s personality is not dulled or slowed by corporate guardrails.

Moving at the speed of culture allows State Farm and Jake to act and react like a true influencer. Through constant social trend tracking, Jake's dynamic content strategy changes with the conversation, so he can continually show up in the feeds of our target audience.

Jake’s social is not the place State Farm chooses for heavy product-pushing. Our authentic, humorous tone positions him as a friendly neighbor, not a salesman, to support of brand awareness and engagement goals.

We tailor Jake’s content to play to each platform's strengths (e.g. challenges on TikTok, behind-the-scenes glimpses on Instagram, quips and made-to-go-viral trends on X).

While organic community-building is key, in 2023/4 we strategically placed Jake in huge cultural moments in sports, entertainment and gaming, and in high-reach collaborations including Khaby Lame, TikTok’s most-followed creator, and Wisdom Kaye, a fashion influencer dubbed the "best dressed guy on TikTok" by Vogue.

We also partnered with creators across a mix of content styles, subcommunities, and audiences on TikTok. In each collaboration, Jake unexpectedly stars in the creator’s content and drives followers to his page to check out another video featuring the creator.

Jake evolved from meme to megastar, allowing State Farm to drive its business in a way competitors simply cannot.

In the last 12 months his social strategy has seen new heights across platforms. As of April 2024 he has over 1.2M TikTok followers. Across all platforms Jake received over 39K social mentions, 633K new followers, netting more than 179M impressions and over 4.7M social engagements.

Jake has 78% customer recognition score and digital ads starring him are two times more recognizable than those without.

His impact goes to the heart of State Farm’s business. At the 100th anniversary convention, Jake recalls his interactions with State Farm agents: “[They] talked about how much their businesses have grown since I’ve been there. There’s a bigger picture that feels way more important.”