Three Reasons Why the New Progressive Insurance Campaign Works Like Gangbusters
Just a few months ago, Progressive Insurance launched a new ad campaign featuring an actress named Stephanie Courtney. According to Parade Magazine, Ms. Courtney ad libbed a few lines at her audition for the part and impressed the casting director. “I improvised at my first audition,” she said. ” and they brought me back for 16 ads.”
Click here to watch the new Progressive Campaign
The commercials work brilliantly. Why? Because Ms. Courtney tosses in a few odd one-liners here and there that make the ads stand out. The character she brought to life — named Flo — brings some sizzle and pizazz to what might have otherwise been a series of run-of-the-mill commercials.
Hats off to Stephanie Courtney for having the wherewithal to add some spark to the commercials. And hats off to Progressive for having the wherewithal to run the heck out of them.
Next time you’re helping develop a marketing campaign, there are three things you should remember. All great marketing campaign have the following elements:
- Clarity — Most importantly, is the campaign on-strategy and an effective piece of communication?
- Impact — Does the campaign stand out from the clutter? Does it make itself known? Does it draw positive attention to itself?
- Memorability — Is the campaign memorable? Will people remember both the message and the ad? (If they just remember the ad, but don’t remember the message, you haven’t done your job.)
Marketing isn’t easy. It’s the rare commercial that stands out as much as the new Progressive campaign. But if you can remember to strive for Clarity, Impact and Memorability on your next campaign, you’ll be doing very well for yourself.
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Another reason the Progressive spots are successful is because they took a relative intangible–insurance coverage-and gave it a concrete image.
Sure, it’s stupid that customers would be pushing around carts full of boxes labeled Auto, Boat, Home, but putting them in a store gave a place for the entertaining interactions to take place–aside from the typical agent-behind-desk-with-nameplate scenario.
Bravo for giving a visual to something that is really a concept.
Agreed, Diane. Good point — They’ve taken an intangible and made it tangible. Better still, they’ve done it in an entertaining way. Given how infrequently I watch TV now-a-days, I’m amazed at how these spots have jumped out and etched a positive impression in my memory.
The story of how she ad-libbed her way into landing the part was refreshing. I’ve attended casting sessions in which some of the actors (perhaps because they’d been burned in the past) refused to ad lib, fearing that their ideas would be incorporated into the script but given to another actor. I can understand their reluctance, I suppose, but I’m glad to see Stephanie Courtney took a chance and threw some ideas out there—and was justly rewarded.