DDB Chicago Wins Idea Pitch for State Farm Brand Refresh

State Farm late last year asked its roster agencies to pitch ideas for a brand refresh. Now, according to people familiar with the matter, the marketer has chosen DDB Chicago's brand refresh idea. These people said that the company has been calling it a brand "reframe," and while it's not immediately clear what DDB's idea is, it will most likely involve a move away from the "Get to a Better State" positioning. Agencies on the roster include Omnicom's DDB Chicago, which handles general market advertising; Translation, which handles advertising geared toward younger audiences; FCB, which handles below-the-line marketing; and Alma DDB, which handles Hispanic marketing. DDB and FCB have long been on the roster. In 2011, DDB won creative duties back from FCB. Since then, the company has been using "Get to a Better State," created by DDB. Because DDB handles so much work for the brand, it had the most to potentially lose if it did not win the pitch. But what remains to be seen is how the idea is executed, and how the assignments based on the idea are divvied up among the agencies. According to people familiar with the matter, State Farm will likely not hold an additional pitch to see which agencies will execute certain elements. Rather, the company will likely dole out the execution assignments to its current agencies. State Farm said it has no "updates to share at this time." DDB declined to comment. The 94-year-old insurer, which generated $71.2 billion in revenue in 2014, recently refreshed its NBA-focused campaign to feature a sitcom-style family featuring basketball stars such as spokesman Chris Paul. The Bloomington, Ill.-based insurer has been a sponsor of the NBA since 2010. State Farm spent more than $598 million on measured media in 2014, a 4.1% decline from the prior year, according to Ad Age's DataCenter. Contributing: Adrianne Pasquarelli

DDB Chicago Wins Idea Pitch for State Farm Brand Refresh

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