In the US, discount insurers have turned car insurance into a commodity. They’ve trained consumers to think getting a low price is all that matters. But the truth is, when an insurance company gives you a low price, they usually cut your coverage to do it. Putting you at risk.

The Allstate brand stands for better protection. Our brief was to turn the competitors’ low price positioning against them.

We created Mayhem. A charismatic bad guy who personifies trouble. He’s every reason to have the right insurance. Sometimes he’s a texting teenager. Sometimes he’s an act of nature. But he’s always proof that there’s nothing scarier than being too cheap with your car insurance.

We created a series of television commercials, online exclusive films, interactive rich media, contextually relevant OOH, a robust social presence and dozens of highly targeted radio commercials based on specific local insights.

Prior to the launch of Mayhem, Allstate had been running the same campaign for seven years. We knew people would notice the new work. So on June 20th, 2010, we sparked curiosity with a series of national:15 teaser spots that introduced the character and paid off with an intriguing super: "Mayhem is Coming." One week later, we began releasing :30 commercials, one by one. As online buzz grew, unofficial Mayhem Facebook pages and fan groups began to appear. So we gave people what they wanted, and consolidated the fanbase with an official Mayhem Facebook presence.

From there, we rolled out city by city with heavy-up OOH and radio advertising crafted around the specific vulnerabilities of each market.

Online banner ads rounded out the campaign and deepened engagement. One execution featured nine different Mayhems in an interactive grid, who bicker as they try to one-up each other.

This campaign is the most culturally relevant work Allstate has ever done. Just four months into the campaign, you could count on seeing a Mayhem at just about every Halloween party in the U.S.

On YouTube, the commercials have gotten more than 7 million views. In just 9 months, Mayhem has more than 400,000 friends on Facebook, and at this point, is growing by more than 30k fans per week. Plus, Forbes magazine named Mayhem among the top 5 most beloved spokespeople in America… behind Snoopy and the M&Ms, both of which have been around for decades.