I am not a huge fan of Farmers, but I believe every company should have a good logo. This new logo is not a good logo. If I were Farmers I would stick with the old one.
Every time I see a Farmer’s account to quote against, I lick my chops since most of the agents in my area are pretty much incompetent, don’t write true Replacement Cost on homes, sell a lot of minimum limit auto business just to sell a price. They are also as numerous as convenience stores. I wonder if Farmer’s also provides the agents E&O since they probably need it when claims go bad and the customer sues.
Been a hundred years since I did personal lines, but you are correct on that one. Let’s split the difference at 2.5 policies per household. Then we have a whopping income of $67,500. Not much considering you will have to put the same amount on the books each year as roll off. Lot of work for a little return considering you have to pay franchise fees, overhead, and support payroll out of the $67,500. Not a whole lot left over to raise a family and plan for retirement let alone take a vacation. Independent is where the money is. AND writing larger commercial accounts.
August 8, 2013 at 12:06 pm
james says:
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This may be the first time I’ve completely agreed with you. :)
What little Commercial we see Farmers write is written just as badly as their Personal Lines. I ran into one a few years back and the account had 6 pick ups and all had a separate policy with minimum limits written on different dates. I guess that agent was padding his PIF count. After I showed the account a fleet policy with better limits, all vehicles scheduled etc, he said – where do I sign to get this?
August 1, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Mike says:
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Couldn’t be more true. They have the lowest standards for hiring I’ve ever seen and you’ll see 2 little offices on every corner.
I am not sure how some of those guys get licensed as agents since the majority of them write coverage stupidly to get to a lower premium. Are they looking out for their customers? Do they advise customers on liability issues and the need for higher limits and Umbrellas? I have yet to see a Farmers account with a Personal Umbrella.
To compare, a reasonably good Independent agent will have about 2,000 Personal Lines accounts, most with multiple policies and a couple hundred Commercial Accounts with multiple policies. The commission income is roughly 15 times what the typical Farmers agent has to work with. No wonder a bunch of them want to go Independent.
I don’t like the new logo. Of course, the old logo didn’t impress me, either. Oh, well, I always thought the product was more important than the logo. I’m strange that way.
Farmers is a cheap company with ages old systems and insurance that is way overpriced. I am a former employee and I safely say that it has the worst working environments. Would never give a dime of business to them. You suck!
I applaud the update—it was sorely need. That said, I feel the new logo ditches too much of the old logo’s visual equity. It’s missing one of their standout identity traits: a long experience providing insurance. This new one does not help me feel like they’ve been a great insurance provider for 85 years. But maybe that’s what the direction they want to go.
Captain America and The Fantastic Four just called and they want their logo back. I bet they paid $50,000 for this eyesore. How about doing a retro logo of a tractor or something? The big problem is that we will soon see this sucky logo with their sucky commercials on every sports show. Bummer.
Don’t they do any market research on these things before rolling them out? All they had to do was ask a few people and they would have known the logo sucks. I guess that’s Farmers for you. Ready, fire, aim!
Farmers tried to recruit me 2 years ago, and the interviewer said I made it to the next step, and scheduled a followup. Then he calls to backpedal, saying there’s no $ in the budget. FIRST oops!
A month later, the same guy calls me to try to sell me a policy. I hung up.
I’ve been a Farmers agent for over 30 years and there has been some minor modifications of the company’s trademark symbol during my tenor. Fact is that the new trademark symbol is much friendlier to Smart phones and other e-commerce devices displays. The positives far outweigh the negatives with this change.
correction: The old symbol WAS NOT downloading and displaying well with a number of Smart devices. The design of the new one is ‘technically’ a better choice.
Its not bad, but its kind of bland. Travelers and Firemans Fund update theirs regularly but the symbology is still there and is easily recognizable. Allstate and State Farms are also iconic-even if you don’t like either company all you have to do is see them and you know who it is. When Safeco went away from the Pink Panther theme, they made a big mistake as some people still associate it with them even though its been 30 years and they’ve merged and been sold in the interim.
You mess with this stuff at your own peril-New Coke anyone?
The most recognizable symbol of an insurance company was the Travelers Umbrella. Years ago, they were owned by Citigroup who owned the logo. We couldn’t display the Umbrella plaque in the office for a while. Luckily, Travelers separated themselves from Citi and reclaimed the Umbrella logo and we were able to put it back up. It is too bad that Travelers is going through the doldrums with rate taking and not being competitive because they do have great brand identification.
I would say any jingle that someone remembers is a good one. You are the proof of that. I think it is somewhat rare for any change to a long-term logo to elicit positive responses. I was with Nationwide when they introduced “the box.” The reaction to that was very negative. Has anyone noticed that Nationwide is subtly reintroducing their old N and Eagle logo?
The Farmers University ads appeal to low information consumers who fall for a goofy jingle. In fact, many of the big players also have very wierd ads. Mayhem on Allstate is a good example. The best of the lot is Liberty Mutual who runs their “responsibility” ads.
a month ago the logo was touted as a 2 billion dollar asset, wonder what this one’s worth? the legacy of a great company is getting eliminated inside and out.
I’ve noticed that the new Farmers TV commercials start by showing the old logo but, end showing the new one. Customers are telling me the new logo does download and appear better on their Smart phones.
From these other negative comments above,looks like these people need to read “Who Moved My Cheese” again. I was a District Manager for 15 years and decided to quit fighting the battles of negative, whining, agents that don’t want to market products for the same company that signs their checks! Farmers agents that want to market and grow in the 2013 market,can do just that. There is plenty of opportunity. If you want to get off your arse and go to work. No doubt who you voted for. Show me a perfect company and I’ll…..whats that?…… I agree….there are no perfect companies…….just negative people……….Congrats on the new logo Farmers!!!!
Gee Gary, I wonder why all those Farmer’s Agents out there want to go Independent. My marketing reps say they are inundated with requests to appoint. They don’t appoint them since they know how Farmers agents do business and they want no part of it.
We miss you Gary, especially the Fishing rodeo in Port-A. Hope you are doing well. I am still fighting the good fight. Thanks for sticking up to us agents trying to make an honest living. J
I FIRMLY BELIEVE THEY NEED MORE THAN A NEW LOGO. I SPENT 32 YEARS OF MY LIFE DEVOTED TO SELLING THEIR PRODUCTS ONLY TO FIND AN AGENT IS SIMPLY A THROW AWAY NUMBER. THEY COULD CARE LESS. THE QUALITY OF THEIR PRODUCTS IS DIMINISHING AS THEIR PRICE GO OUT OF SIGHT.
Wow!! These are all harsh remarks. I have worked as a Farmers Agent for 7 years and I have gone through the ups and down with this company. I agree that sometimes you want to pull your hair with this company and second guess why you are here….But name a company where you could not say that. Yes, brokers have all the flexibility in the world…..thats great! I wish you the best. However, I do get offended when people make remarks about Farmers agents being incompetent. I agree that some are….but don’t bunch us all in the same pot. As an agent, my priority is making sure client are properly covered. We take great measures to make sure we ask the important questions and get the right fact to make an informed decision when offering coverages. Try doing this when your rates are not the most competitive…..I have not stayed this long in business selling 15/30/5 policies, plus they pay sh*t in comissions.
Also, through out the years I have had an offer or two land on my lap. Competitors trying to pluck me from Farmers. I doubt they gave two lick about the company I worked for….They wanted me because of me. So I doubt agent are being turned down by other employers, simply because they worked for Farmers. C’mon people, lets get real!
I wonder how much these people had to pay for this logo. Probably about the same as the new AIG logo that was so sorry.
I am not a huge fan of Farmers, but I believe every company should have a good logo. This new logo is not a good logo. If I were Farmers I would stick with the old one.
Great job uploading that logo, IJ.
Double click on the logo youngin and you get a full screen. It is not impressive.
Looks like they fixed it.
Yeah I’m not sure what that’s supposed to be. A shield in the front? But what’s behind it? Is it a stage for an outdoor concert?
Good one!
Looks more like a logo for a morning cup of joe!
I can’t wait to put that logo on my 1990 Toyota Corolla’s bumper. It’ll give my car that “evolutionary” look.
After all they updated their logo, ba bu bu bum bum bum bum
Looks like an uninspired logo for an even more uninspired company.
10 million households with 50,000 agents. That is 200 household per agent! Wow that is impressive!
I’m not an agent; I don’t get the joke. Or is it a joke?
Yeah, it’s a joke, jw. You’d starve if all you wrote was 200 homeowners policy. $900 x .15 = $135 x 200 = $27,000. Not exactly rolling in the dough…
Every time I see a Farmer’s account to quote against, I lick my chops since most of the agents in my area are pretty much incompetent, don’t write true Replacement Cost on homes, sell a lot of minimum limit auto business just to sell a price. They are also as numerous as convenience stores. I wonder if Farmer’s also provides the agents E&O since they probably need it when claims go bad and the customer sues.
A household can have more than one policy (home, auto, life,etc).
Been a hundred years since I did personal lines, but you are correct on that one. Let’s split the difference at 2.5 policies per household. Then we have a whopping income of $67,500. Not much considering you will have to put the same amount on the books each year as roll off. Lot of work for a little return considering you have to pay franchise fees, overhead, and support payroll out of the $67,500. Not a whole lot left over to raise a family and plan for retirement let alone take a vacation. Independent is where the money is. AND writing larger commercial accounts.
This may be the first time I’ve completely agreed with you. :)
What little Commercial we see Farmers write is written just as badly as their Personal Lines. I ran into one a few years back and the account had 6 pick ups and all had a separate policy with minimum limits written on different dates. I guess that agent was padding his PIF count. After I showed the account a fleet policy with better limits, all vehicles scheduled etc, he said – where do I sign to get this?
Couldn’t be more true. They have the lowest standards for hiring I’ve ever seen and you’ll see 2 little offices on every corner.
I am not sure how some of those guys get licensed as agents since the majority of them write coverage stupidly to get to a lower premium. Are they looking out for their customers? Do they advise customers on liability issues and the need for higher limits and Umbrellas? I have yet to see a Farmers account with a Personal Umbrella.
To compare, a reasonably good Independent agent will have about 2,000 Personal Lines accounts, most with multiple policies and a couple hundred Commercial Accounts with multiple policies. The commission income is roughly 15 times what the typical Farmers agent has to work with. No wonder a bunch of them want to go Independent.
I don’t like the new logo. Of course, the old logo didn’t impress me, either. Oh, well, I always thought the product was more important than the logo. I’m strange that way.
That logo is awesome if you’re from Canada.
Farmers is a cheap company with ages old systems and insurance that is way overpriced. I am a former employee and I safely say that it has the worst working environments. Would never give a dime of business to them. You suck!
I applaud the update—it was sorely need. That said, I feel the new logo ditches too much of the old logo’s visual equity. It’s missing one of their standout identity traits: a long experience providing insurance. This new one does not help me feel like they’ve been a great insurance provider for 85 years. But maybe that’s what the direction they want to go.
Hey Farmers,
Captain America and The Fantastic Four just called and they want their logo back. I bet they paid $50,000 for this eyesore. How about doing a retro logo of a tractor or something? The big problem is that we will soon see this sucky logo with their sucky commercials on every sports show. Bummer.
I thought this logo looked familiar. On my way home last night I passed a new age church with a startlingly similar logo.
Instead of that red shield put Professor Burke’s mug – more recognizable!
Is that the guy from the F.U. commercials?
Or better yet put that chick on from the new Nationwide commercial; the one that runs around replacing the stolen stuff with new stuff!
Don’t they do any market research on these things before rolling them out? All they had to do was ask a few people and they would have known the logo sucks. I guess that’s Farmers for you. Ready, fire, aim!
Farmers tried to recruit me 2 years ago, and the interviewer said I made it to the next step, and scheduled a followup. Then he calls to backpedal, saying there’s no $ in the budget. FIRST oops!
A month later, the same guy calls me to try to sell me a policy. I hung up.
I’ve been a Farmers agent for over 30 years and there has been some minor modifications of the company’s trademark symbol during my tenor. Fact is that the new trademark symbol is much friendlier to Smart phones and other e-commerce devices displays. The positives far outweigh the negatives with this change.
Judging by the comments here, not everyone agrees with you.
It is a technical issue. The old symbol was downloading and displaying well with a number of Smart devices. The new one does.
correction: The old symbol WAS NOT downloading and displaying well with a number of Smart devices. The design of the new one is ‘technically’ a better choice.
That’s funny, because the first day they posted this article, the new logo was messed up (at least when viewed on my old-fashioned computer).
Well, you can tell they are based out of California with this logo. Why would they change from something so recognizable to something that is not?
Its not bad, but its kind of bland. Travelers and Firemans Fund update theirs regularly but the symbology is still there and is easily recognizable. Allstate and State Farms are also iconic-even if you don’t like either company all you have to do is see them and you know who it is. When Safeco went away from the Pink Panther theme, they made a big mistake as some people still associate it with them even though its been 30 years and they’ve merged and been sold in the interim.
You mess with this stuff at your own peril-New Coke anyone?
The most recognizable symbol of an insurance company was the Travelers Umbrella. Years ago, they were owned by Citigroup who owned the logo. We couldn’t display the Umbrella plaque in the office for a while. Luckily, Travelers separated themselves from Citi and reclaimed the Umbrella logo and we were able to put it back up. It is too bad that Travelers is going through the doldrums with rate taking and not being competitive because they do have great brand identification.
Really????
Hey this logo design is at least consistent with their ridiculous, sophomoric, jingle:
WE. ARE. FARMERS!….BUM BUM BUM BUMBUMBUMBUM!
I would say any jingle that someone remembers is a good one. You are the proof of that. I think it is somewhat rare for any change to a long-term logo to elicit positive responses. I was with Nationwide when they introduced “the box.” The reaction to that was very negative. Has anyone noticed that Nationwide is subtly reintroducing their old N and Eagle logo?
The Farmers University ads appeal to low information consumers who fall for a goofy jingle. In fact, many of the big players also have very wierd ads. Mayhem on Allstate is a good example. The best of the lot is Liberty Mutual who runs their “responsibility” ads.
Sorry. The best are GEICO. Especially, HUMP DAY!!
ISn;t the current “F A R M E R S” red? this blue does not look right
a month ago the logo was touted as a 2 billion dollar asset, wonder what this one’s worth? the legacy of a great company is getting eliminated inside and out.
Looks like a transformer(the upper torso only)!
I’ve noticed that the new Farmers TV commercials start by showing the old logo but, end showing the new one. Customers are telling me the new logo does download and appear better on their Smart phones.
I was a Farmers agent over 20 years and like most of their agents, I hate their guts.
The new logo looks awesome! Way to go Farmers!!!
Very 2013 business minded.
From these other negative comments above,looks like these people need to read “Who Moved My Cheese” again. I was a District Manager for 15 years and decided to quit fighting the battles of negative, whining, agents that don’t want to market products for the same company that signs their checks! Farmers agents that want to market and grow in the 2013 market,can do just that. There is plenty of opportunity. If you want to get off your arse and go to work. No doubt who you voted for. Show me a perfect company and I’ll…..whats that?…… I agree….there are no perfect companies…….just negative people……….Congrats on the new logo Farmers!!!!
Gee Gary, I wonder why all those Farmer’s Agents out there want to go Independent. My marketing reps say they are inundated with requests to appoint. They don’t appoint them since they know how Farmers agents do business and they want no part of it.
We miss you Gary, especially the Fishing rodeo in Port-A. Hope you are doing well. I am still fighting the good fight. Thanks for sticking up to us agents trying to make an honest living. J
I FIRMLY BELIEVE THEY NEED MORE THAN A NEW LOGO. I SPENT 32 YEARS OF MY LIFE DEVOTED TO SELLING THEIR PRODUCTS ONLY TO FIND AN AGENT IS SIMPLY A THROW AWAY NUMBER. THEY COULD CARE LESS. THE QUALITY OF THEIR PRODUCTS IS DIMINISHING AS THEIR PRICE GO OUT OF SIGHT.
I AM NOW A BROKER ENJOYING LIFE AGAIN
Wow!! These are all harsh remarks. I have worked as a Farmers Agent for 7 years and I have gone through the ups and down with this company. I agree that sometimes you want to pull your hair with this company and second guess why you are here….But name a company where you could not say that. Yes, brokers have all the flexibility in the world…..thats great! I wish you the best. However, I do get offended when people make remarks about Farmers agents being incompetent. I agree that some are….but don’t bunch us all in the same pot. As an agent, my priority is making sure client are properly covered. We take great measures to make sure we ask the important questions and get the right fact to make an informed decision when offering coverages. Try doing this when your rates are not the most competitive…..I have not stayed this long in business selling 15/30/5 policies, plus they pay sh*t in comissions.
Also, through out the years I have had an offer or two land on my lap. Competitors trying to pluck me from Farmers. I doubt they gave two lick about the company I worked for….They wanted me because of me. So I doubt agent are being turned down by other employers, simply because they worked for Farmers. C’mon people, lets get real!