• by Tanya Gazdik , November 19, 2010

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

A recent survey shows 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 Allstate's 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 the biggest college football rivalry games in the country and blog about his experiences while "assisting" fans in their quest for game tickets.

Hall will embark to gameday locations 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. Consumers can also register by visiting www.goodhandsroadside.com. Preregistering 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 their service only once every three years.

A consumer in need of roadside assistance can call 1-800-ALLSTATE anytime and receive access to Allstate's 24/7, nationwide towing network. Consumers 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 smart phone 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. Consumers can download the Good Hands Roadside app at www.allstate.com/mobile/main.aspx.

The financial services company is also hosting the "Roadside Kick It For Tickets Sweepstakes" on its Facebook page at www.facebook.com/Allstate. 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 GHR before they can play.