We have a stable of new and updated case studies we’re preparing to add to the site in the coming weeks. We have a case study we’ll be sharing on how we created a podcast for a client that now has more than a million downloads, how we created a campaign to kick off the new year that resulted in more than 100,000 people trying a plant-based diet for the month of January, and many more. The case studies, of course, solely focus on the problems we solved, how we did it, and the results we earned. By design, they are short. So, to accompany each one as we roll them out, I thought I’d add context and share a behind-the-scenes look at how these came together. 

We wanted to start by revisiting our work for Safeco Insurance. The updated case study is as much an explanation of the way we think as it is a fun look back at how we hustled to start the agency.

As I was preparing to launch the agency, I considered dozens of names. I wanted the name of the agency to share our point of view on the power of creative PR in one word. I landed on and trademarked Curator – and still own the ™ – for what has now become a widely understood form of marketing. We defined it as developing creative earned media programs that connect with consumers where they are, in a way that actually gives them a reason to care about the brand, through a “curated” experience.

Despite a fast start of growing the agency, when Safeco sent a note inviting us to participate in their RFP, I didn’t think we were ready. I had started the agency only a year earlier and we had just moved into our first office space after DDB’s Ron Elgin generously allowed us to share some free space to help us get off the ground. We moved into the FX McCrory Building in Seattle’s Pioneer Square. To me, it was the most beautiful 2,500 square feet of old brick and beam, huge windows, and tons of character. It was also virtually empty. We had a gorgeous conference room, but no conference table, no art on the walls yet and a bunch of desks with only a few people sitting at them.

All that aside, we were fired up to be included and wanted to go after it hard. Safeco, which has now been rolled into Liberty Mutual, was focused on their “Do More” ad campaign and it was doing well. Their target was what they called the “life involved.” These are people who want to be active in some way – it can be rock climbing, or gardening. All that matters is they do not  want to be sitting on the couch.

As we share in the case study, research showed people really only give their insurance company thought on two occasions: when their policy is up for renewal or if they get in an accident or get a ticket. That’s not ideal real estate to own in your consumer’s mind. 

Our goal was to create a communications program that could change that. Instead of building a PR campaign around insurance in the way people tend to think of it, we tapped into why someone buys an RV or a boat, a motorcycle or car. The last reason they buy them is to have them sit in their driveway while they sit a home. They buy them to go places and do things. We wanted to create a way for Safeco to connect with their consumer while they were dreaming about doing the things they love. That’s a far better place to live for a brand.

We created LiveLifeLocal – a social platform that connected people with insight, inspiration and recommendations from experts and “people like me” who were out doing the things in the places they wanted to visit. We brought in a celebrity spokesperson to go into key markets and try to do the things locals/experts in those markets were doing. We filmed them. We created amazing social content and that content drove significant media coverage. Dozens of experts from magazine editors to professional sailors, motorcycle influencers, and coast-crossing RVers to tens-of-thousands of everyday lovers of “doing more” all contributed to the site. 

The campaign went on to win the PRSA Totem award. In that same show we also captured the Best-in-Show award for our work with Domino’s. The day we got the call that we were finalist in the Safeco pitch was a turning point for the agency. We ended up filling the conference room with a table that night – in preparation for the presentation – and thankfully went on to fill the desks over time too. The account paved the way to bring in amazing talent to Curator, including our SVP Dan Miller, and demonstrated the power of giving the consumer a reason to care instead of simply talking at them. Creating a program that changed the relationship people had with an insurance company is a high point for me even today and I could not be more proud of our current campaigns. More on those in the coming weeks.