Familiar characters from Liberty Mutual, Allstate and Progressive were standouts for their consistent brand cues, humor and likability according to MarketCast’s data

Culver City, Calif. – March 31, 2025 — MarketCast, a global marketing research firm, has released its latest insights into the performance of U.S. insurance brand mascots in advertising. The findings, derived from MarketCast Brand Effect platform that surveys 20,000 real audiences daily, showcase which iconic characters are breaking through and driving brand and message recall among viewers from January 2024 to February 2025.

Liberty Mutual’s LiMu Emu and Doug Take the Top Spot: Liberty Mutual’s dynamic duo, LiMu Emu and Doug, emerged as the leading insurance mascots in Ad Breakthrough, Messaging, and Branding categories. Their consistent use of recognizable brand cues—including the bold yellow visuals, the Statue of Liberty imagery, and the catchy “Liberty, Liberty, Liberty” jingle—ensures that Liberty Mutual remains top of mind for audiences.

Allstate’s Mayhem Reigns in Likeability and Memorability: Allstate’s Mayhem continues to captivate audiences with its signature mix of chaos and humor, ranking first in both Ad Likeability and Most Memorable Ads. The character’s unpredictable storylines and rebellious personality set it apart, proving that a touch of destruction can make an ad unforgettable.

Progressive’s Character Lineup Delivers Strong Brand Recall: Progressive’s long-standing mascot, Flo, secured a high rank in Message Recall, second only to Mayhem. Meanwhile, Jamie solidified his rising star status, tying with Flo in Ad Breakthrough but outperforming her in Branding. Dr. Rick, known for his humorous “parent-life” lessons, landed third in Likeability, though brand attribution remains a challenge for his ads.

"Being fun or likable isn’t enough when it comes to having truly effective advertising for these brands," said Amy Fenton, Chief Operations and Creative Officer, MarketCast. "Our research shows that the most successful insurance campaigns have strong brand identity queues with clear, memorable messaging. They strike a delicate balance—making us laugh while ensuring we remember who the ad is for and what the main message is."

Top Insurance Mascot Winners by Category:

• Ad Breakthrough (Remember both Ad and Brand correctly):
  • Liberty Mutual – LiMu Emu (+9% above norm)
  • Allstate – Mayhem (+4% above norm)
  • Progressive – Flo & Jamie (both +3% above norm)

• Ad Recall (Remember the Ad correctly):
  • Allstate – Mayhem (+5% above norm)
  • GEICO – Gecko (+3% above norm)
  • Progressive – Dr. Rick (+2% above norm)
  • Liberty Mutual – LiMu Emu (+2% above norm)

• Branding (Attribute the Ad to the Correct Brand):
  • Liberty Mutual – LiMu Emu (+18% above norm)
  • Progressive – Jamie (+8% above norm)
  • Progressive – Flo (+6% above norm)

• Messaging (Recall the Main Message of the Ad):
  • Liberty Mutual – LiMu Emu (+16% above norm)
  • Progressive – Flo (+8% above norm)
  • Allstate – Mayhem (+7% above norm)

• Likeability (Like the Ad):
  • Allstate – Mayhem (+8% above norm)
  • Progressive – Dr. Rick (+4% above norm)
  • Liberty Mutual – LiMu Emu (+1% above norm)

MarketCast’s latest findings highlight the power of well-crafted branding and storytelling in insurance advertising. By leveraging familiar mascots and reinforcing brand identity through strategic cues, brands can ensure lasting audience impact. To learn more about MarketCast and its Brand Effect measurement, visit www.marketcast.com.

Media Contacts
Graham McKenna
MarketCast
Graham.McKenna@MarketCast.com

New MarketCast Ad Effect Express solution combines human research with proprietary AI to better predict advertising performance

Culver City, Calif. – Sept. 25, 2024 – Marketing research and intelligence company MarketCast today launched MarketCast Ad Effect Express, an innovative new advertising testing solution that brings together the power of human research with AI to better predict how TV, CTV, and digital advertising will perform across different audience segments.

Typical advertising testing is either survey-driven, with people watching ads and responding to researcher questions, or powered by AI models to predict human reactions with little human input. The human-powered research is in-depth but often expensive and slow. And the AI-powered models are speedy but often built upon narrow, outdated research. MarketCast Ad Effect Express combines the best of both worlds, delivering speed, scale, and accuracy, with cost efficiencies.

“Many of today’s AI-powered ad testing solutions sacrifice quality for speed by cutting humans out of the process,” said John Batter, CEO of MarketCast. “At MarketCast, we believe AI should amplify the voice of consumers in advertising research, not replace them. That's why MarketCast Ad Effect Express gives advertisers a smarter, faster, and more cost-effective way to test ads—without losing the power of the human connection.”

Looking under the hood, MarketCast Ad Effect Express is powered by the company's proprietary Audience AI, which uses fresh survey data as a foundation to train the AI models to amplify audience size and predict how real people will react to advertising. This allows advertisers to capture the subtle nuances of human opinions that AI solutions alone could miss. It also gives them access to hard-to-reach audiences without the heavy costs associated with obtaining audience sample.

MarketCast Ad Effect Express delivers ad testing research within 24-48 hours of submission and features facial and eye tracking to pinpoint second-by-second emotional reactions to ad creative. Additionally, it allows for responses to open-ended questions, which provides more context about advertising predictions, telling brands the reasons why (or why not) their ad creative will perform well once it’s in front of consumers.

MarketCast Ad Effect Express is now available. To learn more, contact us.

Fusing big data with traditional research methodologies to help brands identify, grow, and nurture Brand Fandom

Los Angeles, Calif. – September 20, 2023 – Data-driven insights and research company MarketCast today launched MarketCast Brand Tracking+™, an innovative new research solution that aims to transform how traditional brand research is conducted by the world’s top brands. Through the fusion of consumer data, ad performance data, and an industry-first Brand Fandom framework, MarketCast Brand Tracking+ will help marketers better understand how their brand performance is shifting and its direct impact on the businesses’ bottom line.

Today, practically every major brand conducts brand health research, representing billions of dollars in annual marketing spending. Despite this, brand tracking methodologies have hardly changed in decades, often looking back instead of forward and relying too much on consumer surveys while ignoring available big datasets. Now, MarketCast Brand Tracker+ changes the game. By combining behavioral data, such as Search, Smart TV, Social, and Purchases, with advertising performance data and survey research, Brand Tracking+ helps marketers pinpoint why shifts in brand performance are happening and what actions they can take with their marketing campaigns to pivot.

“The bringing together of big datasets with survey-based research will transform traditional brand tracking research from playing a passive role in the marketing organization to being a powerful signal for understanding marketing effectiveness,” said John Batter, CEO of MarketCast. “With MarketCast Brand Tracking+, we are finally connecting the dots between what people think and say about brands in traditional research surveys to how they engage with them in the real world and in real-time through product purchases and other conversions. Combined, this provides CMOs a powerful view into how brand performance directly impacts the marketing and sales funnel.”

At its core, MarketCast Brand Tracking+ features an innovative Brand Fandom research model and scoring methodology that identifies the key drivers of Brand Fandom. According to MarketCast’s research, fans of brands are six times more likely to pay more for that brand’s products and services and 15 times more likely to advocate for them. In addition, when brands have public missteps or ship products that miss the mark, which they occasionally do, brand fans are eight times more likely to remain loyal and even defend them.

“Fandom is every brand’s superpower, and every brand wants fans, whether they are a multi-billion-dollar beverage maker or a software supplier,” said Edward Trujillo, senior vice president of Brand Solutions at MarketCast. “MarketCast Brand Tracking+ helps brands create a roadmap for building Brand Fandom by identifying the factors influencing it, from people’s passions and emotional connections for their favorite brands to how they engage with and advocate for them daily.”

MarketCast Brand Tracking+ focuses on three core drivers of brand fandom, including:

1. Brand Presence in the market.
2. Brand Distinction in its category and among competitors.
3. Brand Relevance to the lives of the audiences it serves.

These Fandom drivers are supported by more than 40 additional inputs, gathered through consumer surveys, and then connected to millions of behavioral datapoints to understand how fans are engaging with the brands in real-time. Together, this forms the basis for a single MarketCast Fandom Score that marketers can compare over time with their competitors and across other brand categories, while also playing a role in predicting future brand performance.

MarketCast Brand Tracking+ is now available. To learn more, contact us.

Kantar Sales and Commercial Leader joins MarketCast to Grow its Research and Advertising Measurement Business in the Technology Sector

Los Angeles, Calif. – August 24, 2023 – Data-driven insights and research company MarketCast today announced Marisa McMahon is joining the company as its newest commercial leader supporting its technology portfolio. In this role, McMahon will be responsible for growing the company’s research and advertising solutions with the world’s top technology providers, including video games publishers, software and hardware makers, and tech platforms.   

“With technology innovation happening at an unprecedented pace, it's critical that our tech clients have a research partner who can help them navigate shifting consumer beliefs and behaviors,” said John Batter, CEO of MarketCast. “Having spent much of her career as a researcher and client service leader for the world’s biggest tech brands, Marisa knows what it takes to deliver research programs that bring value to marketers in this space, and we are thrilled to have her lead this effort.”

McMahon comes to MarketCast with more than 20 years of research experience, ranging from traditional brand and audience research to advertising copy testing and tracking. She joins MarketCast from Kantar, where she held a range of senior leadership positions, from leading client development and strategy to driving major technology accounts. McMahon began her career at Millward Brown where she spent more than 15 years building its successful U.S. practice. 

“The opportunity to join MarketCast at this pivotal stage in the company’s transformation, where I can make a real impact, is truly exciting,” said McMahon. “I look forward to partnering with MarketCast’s incredible researchers and commercial teams to discover new ways to help technology marketers gain a deeper understanding of their audiences, measure the impact of their strategies, and build and nurture fandom for their products, services, and brands.”

McMahon comes to MarketCast during a time of rapid transformation and innovation. The company recently launched its cross-platform Brand Effect™ advertising measurement solution which aims to be the standard for measuring ad recall and resonance across CTV, Linear TV, Streaming, and Social. Additionally, the company’s qualitative and quantitative research is trusted by the biggest names in technology, entertainment, and sports to help them understand the business landscape, identify which audiences to prioritize, and build brand fandom up and down the marketing funnel.