Marketing to women that connects, example 5: Allstate or Travelers?

Sometimes great marketing to women is simply just great marketing.  So for this post, I would like you to weigh in. I polled the women at our agency and most of us love the Allstate “Mayhem” campaign. According to Bridget Brennan, author of Why She Buys, women like “humor without victims”. But I would contend that this campaign is an exception, despite the car crashes, electrical sparks, trees falling and black eyes. The humor is so clearly metaphorical and satirical; many women I polled think it is hilarious.

We all relate to potential of mayhem in our life (we are against it vehemently) and like the humor of this male personification of it.  As a female creative director, I wish I thought of it—it’s smart and memorable with endless possibilities. I do not know if Allstate was targeting women specifically (my guess is it was for the general population), but maybe they should be.  According to a 2011-2012 Prudential Study, Financial Experience & Behaviors Among Women, “95 percent of women are financial decision makers, and 84 percent of married women are either solely or jointly responsible for household financial decisions.” While I am personally not offended by the stereotype of the hot pink jogger spot, others seem to be from blog posts I saw online. Hey, it’s a man in a suit acting like a girl so I think that’s funny.

But perhaps a campaign that speaks to women better is the Travelers campaign with the dog. The first spot which featured the dog worrying about losing his bone had the tagline “Take the scary out of life.” Now they have a new tagline “It’s better under the umbrella.”  I guess since the dog was such a hit, it’s become their “spokes animal” and now they are putting a more branded, positive spin on the campaign. I guess all insurance advertising has to have a spokesperson these days, whether it’s the Mayhem guy, a gecko or Flo. I like both the Allstate and Travelers campaigns for different reasons. And I think they appeal to both men and women. What financial or insurance marketing connects with you? And do you think Allstate is doing a better job or Travelers when it comes to creating great marketing to women. Want to see more, check out my first post in my series 20 examples of marketing to women that connects.