State Farm’s Patty Morris on pulling off an NFL crossover in less than two days

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s relationship was still only a fresh rumor in 2023, when State Farm brought together Travis’ mother, Donna Kelce, and Jake from State Farm at an NFL game.On a new episode of The Big Impression, State Farm’s Patty Morris dives into how the company quickly capitalized on the opportunity despite being risk-averse. Episode TranscriptPlease note, this transcript may contain minor inconsistencies compared to the episode audio.Damian Fowler (00:00):I'm Damian Fowler.Ilyse Liffreing (00:01):And I'm Ilyse Liffreing,Damian Fowler (00:02):And welcome to this edition of The Big Impression.Ilyse Liffreing (00:09):Today we're diving into one of the most buzzworthy brand moments in recent memory when Jake from State Farm crashed the Taylor Swift NFL multiverse in a way only he could.Damian Fowler (00:20):Our guest is Patty Morris, head of brand at State Farm. Patty and her team turned a viral cultural moment into a strategic marketing win from the sidelines of an NFL game to the front lines of CTV social and beyond.Ilyse Liffreing (00:34):We're talking about that famous seat swap with Mama Kelsey, and then digging into why Jake keeps showing up in all the right places and how State Farm is rewriting the playbook on building a culturally fluent brand.Damian Fowler (00:47):So let's get into it. We're going to go back to the fall of 2023 when Taylor Swift shows up at a chiefs game and sits next to Mama Kelsey and days later, Jake from State Farm's. In that seat, could you take us behind the scenes and how the idea came together so quickly?Patty Morris (01:07):Okay. Well first let me just back us up a little bit. Okay. State Farm is 103 year old, brand 103, so we have certain ways of doing things,Ilyse Liffreing (01:19):A lot of legacy there right?Patty Morris (01:19):Yes. A lot of legacy we, I think, have been successful as marketers and done a lot of great things over the decades, but we have a way of doing things and you can imagine we're an insurance company, we're risk averse, all of those things. I would just say knowing that context, how do you get from that to an agency calling you on a Friday night and saying, we have this big idea and we think you need to execute it, and it's in about 40 hours. And also it's on probably one of the biggest stages there is, and you say yes to that of course, but how do you get from A to BI think is your question. How did you make that happen? And I would just say a couple of things. One, you have to set the right conditions so that you are part of the cultural Lex Conna in a way that those opportunities come to you. And I think we had done that over time with Jake from State Farm, being really methodical about that and getting him out there in a way that people want to see him and in a way that is a best representation of our brand and allows us to be in cultural places that we otherwise couldn't without that physical brand asset.Damian Fowler (02:30):I mean, everyone obviously wanted to be part of that moment, and it's interesting that you bring up the fact that State Farm is risk averse, and yet you made it in it into that moment. Why was your connection to the Kelsey family and Jake's cultural capital so critical to making it land?Patty Morris (02:47):Yeah, I mean, I think the other context in the background around a moment like that is we've spent a long time over a decade really working to be endemic in the football landscape. Whether it was our longstanding campaign with Aaron Rogers and now Patrick Mahomes, we had brought Travis Kelsey into our football creative for the season and he was part of that work. If you remember, the Mahomes and Otto commercial was the best bundle in the league.Damian Fowler (03:15):Oh yeah, yeah, I do remember.Patty Morris (03:16):So we had all of those things working together, plus all the work we had done to make Jake from State Farm who he is, and you get this lightning moment where you have the right to be there because you have Jake and people love him, and he's a physical manifestation of an intangible product that you can put in these environments. We've built a brand that's endemic in football and is recognized in that space and just I think hats off to the creative mindset at maximum effort for calling us and saying, we think this could be a really great joyful cultural moment. And not many people could go sit in that seat next to Mama Kelsey the week after, but we think fans will love this and risk averse or not. When you hear an idea like that and you are able to put your brand in a position like that, you say yes. And if there's anybody that understands maximizing a cultural moment and doing it in the right way, I think it's maximum effort. So you trust them in that moment to do that with you. And man, we did it very quickly.Ilyse Liffreing (04:23):Very cool. Yeah, no, I know. I was just going to say it was very fast. The timing was impeccable.Patty Morris (04:30):Yeah, I think a week later ...