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 ultra-relatable, 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 as no other company had before. This year, the brand took its best asset to new heights to increase brand awareness, engagement, and positive brand perception among Gen Z and Millennials.

Building credibility for a fictional character, especially a branded character, was a tall order. We have had to humanize Jake, taking him from a meme to a three-dimensional personality. To do that, Jake’s social content balances trend-Jakeing and trendsetting. This year, iconic moments with Dwyane Wade at the NBA All-Star Game, lighting the fire of friendship with Hot Ones’ Sean Evans and viral stunts with Donna ‘Mama’ Kelce have elevated Jake and State Farm even further into the cultural conversation.

The core of our approach is to ensure that 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 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. Jake unexpectedly stars in the creator’s content in each collaboration 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 reached new heights across platforms. As of April 2024, he has over 1.2M TikTok followers. Across all platforms, Jake received over 39K social mentions and 633K new followers, netting more than 179M impressions and over 4.7M social engagements.

Jake has a 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.”