A David vs. Goliath story.
Client
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Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance
Situation
Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance was facing the giants.
Their rural policyholders were getting older, and the brand needed new customers. But urban millennials heard “farm bureau” and thought: “old-school agriculture.”
To make things worse, the big national brands were outspending our client ten-to-one. Our job? Increase their reach without increasing their budget.
Metrics
Approach
If you can’t outspend ‘em, outsmart ‘em.
Nimbler. Smarter. Scrappier. Unlike our deep-pocketed competitors, we couldn’t just crank up the budget. We needed to put every last dollar to work. So we drilled into syndication data, zeroing in on the exact-right placements for the exact-right audience. (Namely, adults aged 25-39 living in or around cities who might be looking for a new insurer.)
But data only gets you so far. That’s where good relationships with media partners come in. We worked with our long-standing partners to make our flat budget work harder. The final strategy combined TV, radio, streaming, OLV, OTT, out-of-home, and key sports partnerships. In other words, the perfect mix of high-impact placements and low-cost impressions.
Results
Costs keep rising, but we're not sweating.
Over the past few years, most media agencies have seen the cost of impressions triple. But thanks to our tough negotiation skills, we kept IFBI’s costs stable without sacrificing results. And tailored strategy is paying off—bringing in younger, more urban customers. Quotes in the Indianapolis metro have increased by 53% (vs the statewide average of 32%), while policies have increased 25% (vs the statewide average of 14%).