financial services

Allstate Targets Road Trippers Online

Allstate-

Allstate is targeting frequent road trip takers in a social media campaign for its Good Hands Roadside Assistance service.

A recent survey shows that college football fans are 21% more likely than the general population to take more than five road trips of 25+ miles during the course of a month.

With that in mind, Allstate tapped one of college football's biggest fans to embark upon a series of road trips to top rivalry games in November and December to help launch its new pay-per-use roadside assistance program, which handles roadside problems such as flat tires, dead batteries or empty gas tanks. The service is available to all drivers, not just Allstate customers.

Northbrook, Ill.-based Allstate has partnered with SB Nation, the largest and fastest-growing network of online sports communities, to send popular blogger Spencer Hall of "Every Day Should Be Saturday" (www.edsbs.com) to some of the biggest college football rivalry games in the country and blog about his experiences while "assisting" fans in their quest for game tickets.

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The launch of Good Hands Roadside Assistance is being supported with an integrated campaign that includes online (banner, rich, social, broadband), search, radio, TV, public relations and promotions. The online media, including social, links easily to online registration.

"While this is not the first time Allstate has used social media, social is particularly suited to letting people know about this unique new product," Lisa Cochrane, vice president of marketing at Allstate Insurance Company, tells Marketing Daily. "In this digital age, it certainly provides a way to reach younger drivers and get them to register for free and know that they can rely on Allstate's 'Good Hands®' for roadside assistance at a guaranteed and fair price - any time they need it."

Hall will embark to games in Iowa City, Iowa; Blacksburg, Va.; Boise, Idaho; San Antonio, Texas and Glendale, Ariz. from now through the BCS National Championship game in January. He will travel more than 6,000 miles in his Good Hands Roadside-branded SUV. The stops will be chronicled on Hall's blog and he will also use his Twitter account (www.twitter.com/edsbs).

At each location, he will team with a former college football legend to give away game tickets, courtesy of Allstate, while signing up college football fans for the roadside assistance program. Pre-registering for the service before it is needed will improve response time.

Allstate is targeting the 35 million American households that don't have roadside assistance services. The company also wants to provide an alternative for the 52 million households with roadside assistance that pay annual fees. Studies show the average driver uses the service only once every three years.

A person in need of roadside assistance can call 1-800-ALLSTATE anytime and receive access to Allstate's 24/7, nationwide towing network. People will pay a flat rate of $75 for a tow up to 10 miles and $50 for other roadside events such as service for a flat tire, a dead battery or keys locked inside a car.

Allstate is also launching the Good Hands Roadside mobile app, which allows smartphone users to select the type of roadside service needed, and the app does the rest -- tapping the phone's GPS capabilities to expedite trusted roadside help straight to the user's location. The iPhone version of the mobile app is available immediately. Android and BlackBerry versions will be available in December.

The financial services company is also hosting the "Roadside Kick It For Tickets Sweepstakes" on its Facebook page. The virtual kicking game allows users to play for a chance to win a trip to the 2012 Allstate BCS National Championship in New Orleans. All players are required to connect with Allstate on Facebook and register for Good Hands Roadside before they can play.

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