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Notice the little toy truck at the beginning, and if you stuck with it, the calling card at the end? Yes indeed, State Farm made this music video possible. Makes you think a little bit differently about the video, doesn't it? In spite of all the chaos, the band keeps on singing cheerfully that "This too shall pass". Because they have great State Farm coverage?

This is all incredibly nifty, but there's one probing question: Why? A partnership between an insurance company and a rock band in this fashion is pretty out of the ordinary, and in this age of accountability, it seems impossible that State Farm could trace this endeavor back to sales. Todd Fischer, manager of national sponsorships for State Farm, essentially said so himself when interviewed by Marketing News Exclusives.

So what is State Farm getting? Well, there's been a lot of media mentions and positive blogger comments, particularly since State Farm shelved over money in order for the video to become embeddable. (This is in the wake of a much-buzzed about New York Times editorial by OK Go lead singer Damian Kulash, who criticized record companies for prohibitting embeds of music videos since they don't make money off of them.) Fischer also reports qualitative feedback from State Farm agents who say that customers are talking about the video with agents, who in turn can find a way to enter into a product conversation. And this effort is a chance for State Farm to appeal to the teen and young adult audience that follows OK Go, to increase the chance that the company will be top of mind when they seek out insurance, he says.

“We’ll be the first to say we’re in a product category a lot of people don’t want to talk about,” Fischer told Marketing News Exclusives. “The only experience people have, typically, is when they need the product, and it’s not always a positive time. … So [this music-based marketing strategy] increases the importance of our product, and uses brand engagement and activation to create a positive experience in between insurance moments.”

This isn't the first time State Farm has done something unusual in the music space. Marketing News wrote about an ambitious Hispanic marketing effort, where the company transformed musicians recruited for a State Farm Spanish language commercial into its own Northern Mexican-inspired pop band. The band made appearances on Spanish-language TV and radio, toured in select markets, and even got a reality show on Telemundo. They also appeared in the below music video.

Again, why? Because State Farm saw it as a chance to show they were there for newly immigrated Hispanics, a target demo that is definitely growing, but one oft overlooked by insurance companies. By making these regular guys into stars, State Farm proved that it cared about the sector, and in turn hopes they will be considered for coverage by the demographic.

Read "State Farm Backs Band to Build Brand Awareness," appearing in the March 18 edition of Marketing News Exclusives, to learn more about the OK Go initiative. You can also learn more about State Farm's Hispanic band campaign in the article "La Musica to Their Ears," available in the May 15, 2009 edition of Marketing News. For access, click here.