- Hollywood's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial"
brings to mind UFOs and Reese's Pieces. But automotive safety?
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- Progressive Insurance is spending millions
of dollars on Super Bowl Sunday to make that connection - one that apparently
pleased "E.T." director Steven Spielberg enough to sell the Mayfield
auto insurer the rights to his scrawny but lovable alien.
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- In the 16 years since the film's release,
Spielberg's production company, Amblin Entertainment, has gotten hundreds
upon hundreds of requests to use the character in promotions, games and
merchandise.
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- Except for an AT&T "phone home"
ad 15 years ago, E.T. has stayed on the sidelines. Until now.
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- Just before half-time of Super Bowl XXXIII
between the Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons, the little guy emerges
to deliver Progressive's message about the importance of safety behind
the wheel, and, of course, who to call for coverage.
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- An expected 130 million viewers witness
E.T. returning to his spaceship, telling his colleagues that life on Earth
is generally good, but that Earthlings rush around in cars and occasionally
have accidents. And, fortunately, Progressive is there to help.
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- Progressive, which now serves 47 states
and is quickly expanding its online insurance purchasing program, is shelling
out an estimated $2.5 million for the 60-second commercial as part of a
national advertising campaign to boost its image and improve its rank as
the nation's fifth-largest auto insurer.
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- Bob McMillan, Progressive's consumer
marketing process leader who is overseeing the campaign, said the company
was advertising in 80 markets.
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- He added that the Super Bowl was a way
to better capture that national audience.
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- The commercial is just one piece of a
broad marketing agreement that Progressive signed with the NFL in July.
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- The partnership involves buying ad time
during games this season and next, sponsoring the Super Bowl half-time
shows for both seasons and backing the NFL Rookie of the Year program.
The company also gets to use the NFL logo in its ads.
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- But why E.T.?
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- "We needed to have an icon, a symbol,
an ambassador to get people around the world to respect and love our company,
to reach out in a deep way and elevate awareness of the company,"
said Peter Arnell, chairman of Arnell Group Brand Consulting, Progressive's
New York ad agency.
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- Arnell, aware that Spielberg's North
Hollywood, Calif., production company, Amblin Entertainment, was interested
in reviving E.T. and possibly even re-releasing the film, came up with
the concept a month after the NFL-Progressive deal was signed.
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- "There weren't a lot of ideas being
kicked around," he said.
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- And the auto safety tie-in appealed to
Spielberg, who consulted on the commercial and the E.T. ad teasers that
have aired since Jan. 9. Spielberg was closely involved, regularly suggesting
changes on how E.T. should look, his facial expressions, lighting and other
production details.
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- "All the elements of the character
were scrutinized and approved by Steven Spielberg. He has a very, very
refined sense of how E.T. should look," said McMillan, who wouldn't
disclose how much the firm paid for the rights to E.T.
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- Ad executives said the fee depends on
how the deal was structured, as a straight licensing agreement or whether
Spielberg might also earn some share of potential sales.
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- "It could be anywhere from here
to the moon," said Jean Pool, director of North American media services
for the New York ad agency J. Walter Thompson. "Licensing is a very
blurry kind of a field, but a couple million [dollars- anyhow."
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- "That's one of the five most popular
movies of all time. They'd get a nice number for that," agreed Tony
Weisman, senior vice president of the Chicago advertising agency Leo Burnett
Co. He estimated that Progressive spent $5 million "before you blink"
on rights, production and Super Bowl ad time.
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- The commercial, which involved computer
graphic imaging and was technically more difficult to create than Progressive's
marketing staff anticipated, was produced by the special effects experts
at director George Lucas' Industrial Light and Magic in San Francisco.
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- With one down and one to go, what does
Progressive have in store for next year's Super Bowl? Hmmm. Let's see.
Think high-risk drivers. How about that scene of the car being crushed
by a Tyrannosaurus Rex from Spielberg's "Jurassic Park"?
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- "Oh, gosh, don't even go there,"
begged McMillan, who was in Miami scrambling to make sure this year's campaign
comes off as planned. "Who knows? I've got to get through Sunday.
February-something we'll start thinking about that."
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- ©1999 THE PLAIN DEALER. Used with
permission.
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