Esurance

Esurance Insurance Services, Inc.
Subsidiary
Industry Insurance
Key people
 Jonathan Adkisson, President
Products Insurance
Revenue $1.028 Billion USD (2012)
Parent Folksamerica Holding Co.
(2000–2011)
Allstate (2011–present)
Website www.esurance.com

Esurance Insurance Services, Inc. is an American insurance company. It sells auto, home, motorcycle, and renters insurance direct to consumers online and by phone. Its primary competitors are other direct personal insurance writers, mainly GEICO and Progressive. Founded in 1999, the company was purchased by Allstate in 2011, and is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Allstate.

History

Esurance was founded in 1999, and became one of the first insurance companies to sell policies directly to consumers over the internet, instead of using in-person meetings or phone calls.[1] In 2000, Esurance was acquired by Folksamerica Holding Company, a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group. Esurance, which is based out of San Francisco, had by that time expanded to offering policies in 24 states, but had also just laid off staff and was actively soliciting a purchaser.[2]

In 2004, Esurance began to offer multi-car discount packages to same-sex couples, by offering multi-car discounts to any group of people that lived together.[3] The company claims to be one of the first insurers to have offered such packages to same-sex couples.[4]

In May 2011, Allstate announced that it was purchasing Esurance and rate-comparison site Answer Financial for approximately $1 billion. At the time, Esurance was selling policies in 30 states and was in the midst of a five-year growth period that saw them double the number of policies in force. Allstate, for its part, was losing policy holders to the three major online policy retailers; Esurance, Progressive, and GEICO.[5][6] Allstate's acquisition of Esurance was completed in October of that year. The combined company became the sixth-largest provider of auto insurance policies.[7] In September 2012, White Mountains filed a lawsuit against Allstate alleging that Allstate failed to meet a deadline to produce a financial audit that was part of the sale, and that Allstate deducted $5.2 million in legal expenses from the value of the sale that they were not allowed to deduct by the terms of the agreement.[8]

Marketing

Esurance's first television advertising campaign was launched five years after the company went live. The campaign was aimed at the 18 to 24-year-old male demographic, and had a budget of $60,000, a tiny fraction of the over $1 billion spent on advertisements within the insurance industry. The commercials featured an animated character named Erin Esurance, a pink-haired spy inspired by Sydney Bristow from the television show Alias.[1] The character and campaign were initially well received, leading to over 30 separate advertisements featuring Erin, and a dramatic increase in brand awareness. However, by 2009 industry polling on corporate mascots found Erin had become unpopular with viewers; 30% of viewers found the character annoying - double the industry average - and was below industry average in sincerity and believability.[1] Polling found Erin was less popular than even Microsoft's notorious Clippy character.[9] Additionally, a large number of pornographic images featuring Erin were created, and in some cases sold, by fans of the character. The illustrations became so prevalent that when the character was searched for by name without mature content filters enabled, the vast majority of results were pornographic.[1][10] The combination of decreasing popularity and the pornographic images led to the character being retired by 2010.[1][9][10]

In 2010 Esurance launched a new advertising campaign designed by the firm Duncan/Channon. By this point the company had an advertising budget of $100 million. Set in a fictionalized version of the Esurance office, but featuring actual Esurance employees, the commercials emphasized both the company's high tech platform and the personal touches offered by speaking to employees. The campaign was a deliberate break from focusing the advertisements on the 18-24 male demographic.[11]

The new campaign was short lived; In December 2011, Esurance announced another new advertising campaign. It emphasized efficiency and positioned the company as "Insurance for the Modern World"; the target demographic was families and professionals in the 25-49 age group. John Krasinski narrated the commercials, which were developed by ad agency Leo Burnett Worldwide.[12][13]

Esurance also markets itself heavily through sports teams and sporting events, where it casts itself as being more environmentally friendly than competitors. The company has sponsored a number of sporting events and teams, including the US Open tennis tournament, the Golden State Warriors, and the San Francisco Giants.[14][15][16]

In February 2015, Esurance released their Super Bowl XLIX commercial, featuring Bryan Cranston parodying his Walter White character from Breaking Bad.[17] In April 2015, Esurance and Major League Baseball announced a new multi-year sponsorship in which Esurance will be the exclusive auto insurance partner for Major League Baseball.[18]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Crockett, Zachary (18 December 2015). "How Esurance Lost Its Mascot to the Internet". Priceonomics. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  2. ↑ Tapia, Catherine (16 October 2000). "Esurance Aquired [sic] by Folksamerica Holding Co.". Insurance Journal. Wells Media Group. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Stewart, Janet (4 April 2004). "Insurers pushed to consider non-traditional couples". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  4. ↑ "Esurance Launches Campaign to Support Crisis Intervention for LGBT Youth". Esurance Press Releases. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  5. ↑ Buhayar, Noah (18 May 2011). "Allstate to Buy Esurance for $1 Billion to Add Online Sales". Bloomberg. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Allstate Targets Online Insurance Sales; Buys Esurance, Answer Financial". Insurance Journal. Wells Media Group. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  7. ↑ Yerak, Becky (7 October 2011). "Allstate closes $1 billion Esurance deal". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  8. ↑ Zacks Equity Research (19 September 2012). "Allstate Sued for Esurance Pricing". Yahoo! Finance. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  9. 1 2 Edwards, Jim (16 June 2010). "The Erin Esurance Autopsy: She Was Less Popular Than Microsoft's "Clippy"". CBS Moneywatch. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  10. 1 2 Edwards, Jim (15 June 2010). "Esurance Axes Erin After the Secret Agent Took on an X-Rated Life of Her Own". CBS Moneywatch. CBS Interactive Inc. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  11. ↑ Elliott, Stuart (7 June 2010). "Esurance Still Has ‘Character'". The New York Times. Retrieved 29 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Vega, Tanzina (21 December 2011). "In New Campaign, Esurance Equates Trust With Efficiency". The New York Times. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  13. ↑ Dilworth, Dianna (23 December 2011). "Esurance launches integrated campaign". DM News. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  14. ↑ Irwin, Tanya (August 2011). "Esurance, AmEx Serve Up U.S. Open Activities". Media Post. Retrieved 23 December 2012.
  15. ↑ Schlegel, John (22 April 2009). "Clubs take green approach to Earth Day". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  16. ↑ "WARRIORS: Golden State Warriors And Esurance Team Up For NBA Green Week". NBA. 9 April 2009. Retrieved 15 August 2010.
  17. ↑ Chitwood, Adam (2 February 2015). "Watch This Year's Best Super Bowl Commercials". Collider.com. Retrieved 5 February 2015.
  18. ↑ "Esurance teams up with Major League Baseball as auto insurance partner". MLB.com. Major League Baseball. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
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