‘Mayhem’ Outspends ‘Good Neighbor’ in Advertising: SNL

Allstate’s “Mayhem” trumped State Farm Mutual’s the “Good Neighbor” in advertising dollars in 2012.

According to an analysis by SNL Financial, Allstate’s ad spend increased 14.8 percent year-over-year to $828.8 million, while State Farm Mutual reduced its advertising expense 4.4 percent from the year before to $777.9 million.

SNL said that much of the Allstate advertising spending has gone into re-branding Esurance as “Insurance for the Modern World” while associating Esurance with the Allstate name.

A number of companies joined Allstate in upping their ad dollars in 2012. Allstate, GEICO, United Services Automobile Association, Nationwide Mutual, Liberty Mutual, American International Group and Amica Mutual Insurance all recorded year-over-year increases in excess of 10 percent.

GEICO was the top U.S. P/C insurance advertiser in 2012, spending $1.118 billion, up 12.5 percent from the previous year.

The SNL data showed that GEICO is currently the only P/C insurer to spend in excess of $1 billion on advertising. While GEICO and Allstate have expanded their ad spend, several of their competitors have reined in their advertising spending in 2012. State Farm, Farmers Insurance, Progressive, American Family Mutual, The Hartford and Travelers Cos. all posted slight year-over-year decreases in ad spending for 2012 in contrast to double-digit percent increases in 2011.