• by Danielle Oster , August 28, 2024

Ahead of the beginning of the NFL season on Sept. 5, State Farm is kicking off its football season campaign by “bundling” two sports that sometimes share a name.

The insurance brand’s “Bundle Is Life” campaign debuts with an ad featuring “Ted Lasso” actor Cristo Fernández and Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, which imagines combining American football and fútbol (soccer) as a way to highlight the benefits of its “Personal Price Plan” bundling home and auto insurance.

“Bundle Is Life” is running in 30 and 15-second iterations as part of a larger marketing investment focused around the football season. State Farm told Marketing Daily that the campaign is part of the brand’s “comprehensive sports marketing strategy,” as well as the continuation of a specific “strategic commitment to football.”

The campaign will run across linear TV, digital, social, online video, and streaming. It also includes an expanded partnership with Amazon Prime’s "Thursday Night Football," including co-branded commercials, and half-time features.

This year’s campaign “prioritized harnessing the influence and community of football,” according to State Farm, in order to reach““the intersection of State Farm priority audiences and football’s diverse and multicultural fan base,” while tapping into both pop culture trends and community around sports to connect with new audiences. The approach resulted in the brand employing “a diverse roster of talent in its ads, reflecting all dimensions of football and sports,” the company added.

State Farm will follow up the initial ad with two further spots over the course of the season. Mahomes will return for one of the ads, appearing alongside Chiefs head coach Andy Reid; and another installment will star Detroit Lions defensive lineman and 2022 rookie of the year, Aidan Hutchinson.