The latest ads from the insurer are concentrating on values instead of the typical discount focus.
The mental image that is called up when thinking about Progressive typically includes Flo, the perky sales clerk who has become the company mascot, though this is not the case in the latest insurance news relating to the insurer’s marketing campaign.
The light hearted ads from the insurer have become a signature advertising style.
That said, the latest campaign is making insurance news by breaking with their tradition and implementing a much more serious style. Within the latest digital and television ads from Progressive, the car insurer appears to have dropped Flo and their typical message of discounted coverage, in favor of an approach that is far more understated.
The latest style in this insurance news is a focus on the values of the company, not its low prices.
The insurance news shows that its ads, which have only just been released, are free of Flo and are concentrating on sharing the values of Progressive, which they claim to be dedication, hard work, and pride.
Though the focus on values is far from unique, it is the lack of Flo that is making the insurance news headlines. The new campaign has been entitled “The Thread”. The only hint of a mention of Flo is that her apron appears at the very end of the first television advertisement. That apron was worn by Flo over 94 unique ads throughout a span of six years. It fit quite nicely with the style of the first ad, which included footage of different people putting on their own aprons as they went to work at their various jobs.
Progressive has insisted that this insurance news doesn’t mean that they are retiring Flo. Instead, she will remain at the very heart of the “Superstore” campaign from the insurer and will be central to a number of comedic spots, for example, “Rate Suckers”, which will still make up the majority of the media buy from the company’s marketing. This, according to Jeff Charney, the Chief Marketing Officer for the company. He said that “Flo has made us a household name,” and explained that “if you look behind the veil of ‘Superstore,’ there’s a real company and there’s real people behind it.” He went on to point out that “millennials and others are really looking at the company behind the advertising”
