How State Farm creates brand affinity with Twitch Rivals communities
June 17, 2024 | By Jareen Imam, Sr. Content & Editorial Manager
Hundreds of ecstatic fans are hushed as they sit on the edge of their seats in a packed auditorium at the Twitch Rivals Arena presented by State Farm, watching as Team SypherPK and Team LuluLuvely go head-to-head in a nail-biting Final Challenge of Dino Egg Scramble. The crowd gasps, cheers, shouts, and applauds as they watch the final round of Twitch Rivals Ultimate Challenge, Live from TwitchCon Las Vegas on October 22, 2023. On the line: a cash prize, bragging rights, but more importantly, the adoration of the gaming community.
But the fans sitting shoulder to shoulder in person aren’t the only ones watching. Tens of thousands of audience members around the globe are glued to the gameplay, airing across 60 broadcasts, following every move. The chat on the livestream overflows with messages full of emotion and excitement.
This communal experience—uniting top Twitch streamers and audiences from all walks of life around their shared passion for gaming—is exactly what first inspired State Farm to become the official sponsor of Twitch Rivals in 2021. Community is at the heart of the brand, and State Farm values building trust and connections with consumers.
Alyson Griffin, marketing vice president at State Farm, discusses the value of connecting with audiences through community experiences.
“We’re always looking at where consumers are spending their time,” said Alyson Griffin, State Farm marketing vice president, “and as a community-focused brand, we were drawn to Twitch because of the strong community of millennial and adult Gen Z gaming audiences.”
With over 25 years of experience leading marketing, brand, and thought leadership teams for companies like HP and Intel, Griffin has developed “first-of-their-kind” immersive experiences, weaving technology with art, influencers, gaming, and music. Overseeing the marketing department at State Farm, she is revolutionizing the 100-year-old brand through the lens of future-forward marketing initiatives.
Amazon Ads sat down with Griffin to discuss how State Farm amplified their collaboration with Twitch Rivals for a fourth year, why engaging with communities is important to the brand, and where she believes the future of advertising is heading. Dive into her interview below to learn how State Farm is tapping into Twitch’s community to engage with audiences through livestreaming and gaming.
What inspired State Farm to be the official insurance sponsor of Twitch Rivals?
Twitch Rivals allows us to be part of the action with some of today’s top and up-and-coming streamers competing head-to-head, which is exactly where we want to be. What inspired us to be the official insurance sponsor is what inspired us to get involved in the world of gaming in the first place: gamers.
We always want to show up authentically for gaming fans in a way only State Farm can, and this sponsorship has allowed us to engage with an online audience we may not otherwise have been able to interact with through custom segments like our “Golden Khakis Awards,” where players can vote on their favorite competitors to receive awards like “Most Valuable Neighbor” or “Most Positive Neighbor.” These awards celebrate Twitch streamers and encourage audience engagement, while also spotlighting our brand.
State Farm returned for a fourth year to be the official insurance sponsor of Twitch Rivals, but this time, your brand amplified your activations in new ways. Tell me more about that.
This year we wanted to do even more with Twitch Rivals. One of the new activations was State Farm Spotlight, which gave fans the chance to dive deeper into game analytics, introduced participation through community voting where Twitch Rivals viewers can engage with custom segments, live event inclusions, and much more.
We also created a Twitch Rivals Pre-Show for their live events that helped us connect with audiences with engaging programming before the tournament started. One of our goals with sponsorships in general is to find ways to add to the entertainment experience wherever we can. With Twitch Rivals, we hoped fans would enjoy the additional level of competition with our custom segments.
State Farm was the presenting sponsor of Twitch Rivals Arena at TwitchCon Las Vegas in 2023.
State Farm has also made an impact on Twitch through custom content series like Gamerhood. What are some of the benefits State Farm has seen from growing the brand’s presence on Twitch?
Gamerhood is a series that State Farm produces and airs on Twitch, and in 2023 it included eight amazing gamers, streamers, and content creators facing off in a first-of-its-kind all-things-gaming competition. The series has been huge for us since we started two years ago.
Creating our own gaming entertainment IP and streaming it on Twitch was an idea we talked about as a team when I first came to State Farm, and the results have been tremendous. Last year alone, we saw more than 12 million-episode views from the five weekly streams across channels, and we’ve heard tons of positive feedback from fans.1 Gamerhood allows us to show up in a new way that extends beyond our work in the sponsorship space and provides another opportunity to engage directly with the Twitch community via chat and play-at-home extensions.
What have been some of your personal favorite moments of State Farm working with Twitch?
There are many, but one of the standouts is our activation work at TwitchCon, Twitch’s semiannual community convention. During TwitchCon Las Vegas, we had a dedicated booth space that gave us an opportunity to bring the State Farm brand to life in a new way in person. Through this activation, we saw the excitement the community has for our brand and especially for Jake from State Farm,2 who is always a hit with fans.
State Farm leaned into their brand assets to create Jake's Arcade at TwitchCon Las Vegas.
As a marketing leader, what do you think are some of the biggest benefits of brands leaning into livestreaming? And what do you want to see more of in the livestreaming space?
Livestreaming, live sports, and entertainment events are a big focus area for us at State Farm across the board. There’s an excitement and energy you feel when experiencing something live, both watching from home or in person, that creates lasting memories. As a marketer, there’s an incredible opportunity to infuse your brand into these moments to build relationships with consumers so they think of you when they need your product or service down the road.
1 Advertiser-provided data, US, 2023
2 Jake from State Farm is a character created by State Farm who has appeared in many of the brand’s commercials and marketing activations, and has a major following on social media.