Video: Esurance Policyholder Shows off Talent, Gets Animated

Auto Insurance Company Finds Latest Customer-Turned-Cartoon with a User-Generated-Video Contest Aimed at Real Esurance Customers

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 6 /PRNewswire/ – Esurance, the direct-to-consumer personal auto insurance company, unveiled the latest commercial in its “Get Animated” advertising campaign starring Esurance policyholder Ron Bradley, winner of September’s Esurance “Get Animated” Talent Search. Ron, an animation student and caricature artist at Disneyland residing in La Mirada, California, is the latest Esurance customer to co-star with animated icon Erin Esurance, following in the footsteps of two other policyholders featured in the auto insurance company’s ads, Paul Mackinaw and Kate Kessler.

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• Esurance “Get Animated” Talent Search

The auto insurance company launched the Esurance “Get Animated” Talent Search as a way of finding the company’s next cartoon star. The contest, exclusive to Esurance policyholders and promoted entirely through email and social media, invited Esurance customers to submit a homemade 30-second video highlighting what they love about their auto insurance company.

Kristin Brewe, Director of Brand & Public Relations for Esurance, stated, “We’ve really enjoyed working with real Esurance customers like Ron and hearing their stories. The Esurance ‘Get Animated’ Talent Search uncovered a lot of creativity among our very talented customers. We found exactly what we were looking for in Ron. He exemplifies the quintessential Esurance customer: An online-savvy, hard-working person who doesn’t have time to waste on things like auto insurance.”

• Ron Gets Animated…Celebrity-Style

After being selected the winner of the Esurance “Get Animated” Talent Search, Ron received the star treatment and was flown to San Francisco for an all-expenses-paid weekend to be filmed and eventually animated by W!LDBRAIN, the San Francisco-based animation studio responsible for all of Esurance’s ads.

Ron stated, “I’ve always really enjoyed the Esurance ads, so I jumped at the opportunity to star in my own commercial, and as an aspiring animator, it was really great working with W!LDBRAIN. The whole weekend with Esurance in San Francisco was great; they really made me feel like a star. I just felt bad for my friends and family, who had to deal with my big ego when I got back.”

• Giving to Charity No Rarity for Esurance Customers

As part of the prize package for winning the Esurance “Get Animated” Talent Search, Esurance will donate $5,000 to the charity of Ron’s choice, the Children’s Hospital Central California. Esurance made donations on behalf of its previous “Get Animated” stars, Paul and Kate, and continues to make charitable giving a focal point of the auto insurance company’s commitment to social responsibility.

Ron stated, “I have a 2-year-old daughter of my own, and being a parent is the greatest joy in the world, so I knew right away I wanted Esurance to donate to a charity that had something to do with kids. I chose Children’s Hospital Central California, because my mother had problems after her pregnancy with me, so I was actually moved to the facility. Naturally, I want the money to go there.”

• How It Worked

The promotion was implemented using a custom-built Flash widget, developed and hosted by Mixercast of San Mateo, California, which allowed users to upload, view, and vote for their favorite videos. After a two-week submission period, the widget was opened to the public for viewing and voting at www.esurance.com/talentsearch The winning video was chosen through a variety of criteria, including concept and production, visual aesthetics, underlying message delivered, originality and creativity, and the results of the public voting.

Jennifer Cooper, Founder and CEO of Mixercast, stated, “Mixercast is thrilled to be involved with a powerful, online brand like Esurance. When Esurance needed a social advertising solution to engage their audience for the ‘Get Animated’ Talent Search, they called on us to provide an interactive, virally distributed application. Not surprisingly, the application inspired some very creative user-generated content.”

To see all submissions for the Esurance “Get Animated” Talent Search, check out www.esurance.com/talentsearch

About Esurance(R)

Esurance, a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group, Ltd. (NYSE: WTM), provides personal auto insurance direct to consumers online and through select online agents. Esurance is dedicated to constantly improving the way people shop for, buy, and manage their auto insurance. By combining the best of technology with industry know-how, Esurance is able to offer hassle-free coverage with 24/7 customer service and claims handling at competitive prices.

In addition to hassle-free auto insurance, Esurance is also known for its unique use of Flash animation in its advertising, featuring the iconic cartoon secret agent, Erin Esurance. The advertisements are created by Esurance and the award-winning animation studio, W!LDBRAIN. Viewers can access all commercials, along with Erin Esurance downloads, at www.esurance.com

About Mixercast

Mixercast, Inc. (www.mixercast.com), creator of the MCast social marketing application platform, enables content publishers and advertisers to reach audiences across the social web. Social marketing applications-widgets, mash-ups, Facebook and MySpace apps, and more-are portable content or brand experiences that are virally spread by users and a highly effective way to advertise and syndicate content. The MCast Platform is an end-to-end solution, which includes a comprehensive set of tools and services, for creating, distributing, monetizing, and tracking all types of social marketing applications. Headquartered in San Mateo, California, Mixercast is funded by Velocity Interactive Group, Intel Capital, and ONSET Ventures.

SOURCE Esurance