Cheat Sheet: Facts and Figures Behind the Faces in Those Car Insurance Ads

Flo, Mayhem ... "The World's Greatest Spokesperson"? Can't remember which car insurer those characters pitch for, or which insurer has the catchy (or grating, depending on your point of view) jingle or tagline? Want to know which is the biggest ad spender? This breakdown of the marketing that props up the nation's top nine insurers will clear things up. STATE FARM Meanwhile, the company plans to revamp a separate TV campaign launched about a year ago by DraftFCB that instructs users to visit a special website to check for discounts of up to 40%. The new effort, to be led by roster agency DDB, will put less of a focus on discounts and more on the company's multiple insurance lines, including homeowners and life -- partly an appeal to millennials, who will need more products as they age. "This campaign will evolve to a bigger message to cover all the needs a customer may have," said Pam El, VP-marketing. The insurer spent $300 million on its auto business in the 11 months of 2010, up from the $174 million it spent in all of 2009, according to estimates from Kantar Media. ALLSTATE Mayhem "has become the villain to [the] Dennis Haysbert hero," said Lisa Cochrane, VP-integrated-marketing communications. Still, Allstate continues to lose market share. It dropped to 9.96% in third quarter 2010, according to the Insurance Information Institute. Analysts pin some of the blame on rate increases in some big states to improve profitability, especially in homeowners, which could have a spillover effect into auto for those who bundle insurance. Allstate spent $202 million in measured media in the first 11 months of 2010 on auto, up from $178 million for full year 2009, according to Kantar. GEICO And it's working: From 1999 to 2009, Geico more than doubled its market share to 8.21%, according to the Insurance Information Institute, and its share is growing more this year to 8.29% through third quarter. In the first 11 months of 2010, Geico spent $535 million on measured media on its auto-insurance business, outpacing 2009's total of $477 million and double what it spent in 2006, according to Kantar Media. PROGRESSIVE While Flo is designed to close the deal with consumers who are already in the market, Progressive 's new character, called the Messenger, is meant to get more people thinking about insurance. In ads, the mustachioed, leather-jacket-wearing man lurks in places -- such as a mattress store -- where he sneaks up on customers, pitching them on discounts. "Flo helps when you shop, he reminds you that you should shop," Mr. Charney said. For 2010, measured media spending on auto through November was $364 million, up from $291 million in full-year 2009. FARMERS The ads tested well, but "in the living room it just wasn't cutting through," said Chief Marketing Officer Kevin Kelso. "We needed something that was a little bit more entertaining." Measured media spending on auto in 2010's first 11 months was $47 million, down from $54 million in all of 2009, according to Kantar. ESURANCE Esurance, which commands less than 1% of the market, through November of 2010 spent an astounding $80.9 million on measured media on auto, according to Kantar Media. NATIONWIDE INSURANCE LIBERTY MUTUAL AMERICAN FAMILY INSURANCE But don't look for any cartoonish characters. The insurer would rather avoid such over-the-top appeals, which Ms. Yancy called the "white ocean with a lot of activity and a lot of blood in the water." According to estimates from Kantar, the insurer spent $7 million on measured media on auto in the first 11 months of 2010, about what it spent in 2009.

Cheat Sheet: Facts and Figures Behind the Faces in Those Car Insurance Ads

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