The Gamerhood Challenge is the biggest and most inventive expansion into the online gaming space State Farm has made to date. The business challenge was to develop a campaign that would resonate with and educate the fickle target market (Millennials and Gen Z) about insurance in an innovative way they would embrace and find entertaining. The Gamerhood Challege was a first-of-its-kind, multi-episode gaming competition, combining live gameplay and commentary, entertaining surprises, appearances by Jake from State Farm, and prize giveaways to viewers. Weekly, on the State Farm® Twitch Channel, online gaming fans across the country will be welcomed to the State Farm Gamerhood Challenge. The Gamerhood is a virtual neighborhood celebrating all things gaming, where fans can interact live and feature an impressive list of world-renowned gaming personalities. At the end of the series, one challenger will be named the Ultimate Gamerhood Champion, worthy of taking home the “Key to the Gamerhood” and State Farm will make a $100K donation in the winner’s name to Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.
While many brands focus on Esports, which has $1.38 billion in annual revenue, State Farm strategically targeted the all-encompassing $208 billion casual gaming market to create a first-ever all-things-gaming competition.
Despite it being the first event of its type, State Farm set massive measurable goals:
In 2022, State Farm developed a five-episode "Gamerhood" activation series that was a combination of reality show meets live gaming tournament in a State Farm Universe on the largest set ever constructed for a gaming event. The tournament would celebrate and bring to life all elements of gaming — featuring trivia, online, yard and mobile games. Eight world-renowned gaming personalities competed against each other in a gaming tournament over five episodes, hosted by Barbara Dunkelman and Alex “Golden Boy” Mendez. The lineup consisted of SypherPK, Berleezy, IM Dontai, Emme Montgomery, Alfredo Diaz, Jeremy Dooley, BlackKrystel, and Michael Jones.
This 50,000-square-foot “Gamerhood” was the largest-ever physical build for a gaming environment. Classic suburban stylings like a lemonade stand and streetlamps remind viewers of State Farm's 100-year-old legacy. The creators brought the brand into the present, as they played video games and competed in-person challenges. Posting about the challenge on their social media platforms (whose massive followings combined to have a collective reach of 61+ million) ahead of the Twitch live streams drew gamers to view and participate, while also building positive impressions and familiarity with State Farm's brand. Livestreams of their video game competitions were interspersed with comedic obstacles inspired by real-world home insurance claims, also featuring Jake From State Farm. The result was gaming content and brand introduction, all through an entertaining presentation.
The contestants were competing for the honor of the “Key to the Gamerhood” and a $100K donation in the winner’s name to the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The first of its kind, the Gamerhood Challenge combines live gameplay and commentary with surprises and giveaways for the viewers. Appearances by Jake From State Farm cemented the company’s brand ambassador as a persona as notable as the contestants. He socialized with the world-renowned gamers throughout the episodes and even competed directly against the highest-scoring contestants, positioning them both as celebrities equally worthy of a young gamer's admiration.
The "Gamerhood" name effectively calls back State Farm's famous jingle, and positions the contestants as fellow good neighbors, making a seamless bridge between brand and campaign. To further promote audience engagement and allow viewers to play along at home, SF developed TWO groundbreaking Twitch extensions — synced real-time across multiple channels. Viewers played for prizes in trivia competitions and Draw That Thing — a Pictionary-like game. The episodes have also been uploaded to YouTube; though no longer interactive, users can rewatch them. Overall, bringing classic State Farm themes of home security and neighborliness to youth-dominated Twitch, via internationally popular creators, gave State Farm a powerful introduction to their future consumer base and increased brand affinity.
The State Farm Gamerhood Challenge far exceeded SF’s expectations and generated 1+ Billion impressions!
Measurable results:
Additional results:
By every metric, the revolutionary Gamerhood Challenge was overwhelmingly successful. It resoundingly delivered on the company’s goal of appealing to younger audiences and generating future demand. State Farm aligned with some of the world’s top gaming and content creators to develop its first-ever proprietary event and made insurance fun and entertaining to its target audience. Taking a multi-tiered approach, the all-things gaming competition utilized Twitch, YouTube and the talent’s social media influence to achieve unprecedented success, with 1+ billion impressions! The ACV was staggering, putting the Gamerhood Challenge in the company of the leading, established events in the gaming space. The Gamerhood Challenge solidified brand recognition by accelerating State Farm’s awareness and growth in a unique and innovative way.
