State Farm introduced AI-powered social content during last night’s NBA Finals Game 4 featuring Stan -- the talking State Farm Stanchion Pad behind the basket -- reacting to Knicks-Spurs.
Created in collaboration with the Google AI Lighthouse Program, this campaign posted 25 times throughout the night on X, replying with commentary based on what was happening inside MSG.
When the Knicks won at the buzzer, for example, Stan chimed in saying, “29-point comeback? I totally called it, just don’t look back at anything else I said tonight.”
When ESPN’s “SportsCenter” posted a video clip of Taylor Swift appearing at the game, State Farm’s Stan replied nine minutes later with a Swiftian friendship bracelet draped around it and said, “I tried to say hi to her and just fumbled over my foam.”
The goal of using AI was to amplify the cultural conversation during a big event and was an example of what Kristyn Cook -- State Farm’s executive vice president and chief agency, sales & marketing officer -- said earlier in the day at SBJ’s Brand Innovation Summit in Chicago.
“We are leaning in relative to content, in particular, and have built our AI engine so that we can create much more scale in what we do as we’re serving up content in that personalized way,” Cook said, adding, “We’re asking the question in terms of how can we be faster, smarter and drive more scale, but at the same time too, stay tried and true to what I think sports really gives you, which is experiences and how we can create emotional connections to different audiences through experiences.”
