The General Signs the Ultimate Brand Advocate: Shaq

What brand wouldn’t want Shaq to be its national brand advocate? Well, The General Automobile Insurance Services did just that.

The General, an expanding auto insurance company known for its diminutive cartoon mascot and spokesperson, signed NBA Hall of Fame Center and NBA TV analyst Shaquille O’Neal as its first-ever brand ambassador.

The 7-foot, 1-inch O’Neal will represent the company in TV commercials and across digital media channels, and will share the stage with the 4-foot, 9-inch General and his signature red convertible. The campaign will launch this summer.

Drew Martin, SVP of Sales and Marketing for The General, talked to Loyalty360 about signing O’Neal as its brand ambassador.

“We feel our customers can relate to Shaquille, as his brand has grown beyond his basketball career,” Martin explained to Loyalty360. “We share many brand values with Shaquille – attainability, great value and quality, authentic, affordable, and larger than life. We believe this can translate in a number of ways to having more satisfied customers who feel more loyal to the brand and who will be able to experience the high level of customer satisfaction we deliver (ranked by MetricNet as the highest customer service among all auto insurers they review).”

Martin said The General’s parent company, American Family Insurance®, invited Shaq last year to speak with a group of its agents during an agent recognition trip in Florida.

“While chatting with AmFam’s CEO, Jack Salzweidel, Shaquille learned that AmFam was the parent of The General, and he conveyed that he was a former customer and enjoyed our ads,” Martin explained. “While talking with Jack, he expressed a desire to be in the ads.”

Martin talked about the campaign goals.

“We hope to see our response rates and conversion rates improve, driven by an even higher level of trust in the brand that Shaquille brings,” he explained. “We are especially happy to promote Shaquille’s experience as a customer, which we feel is very compelling as a message.”

O’Neal said personal experience with The General motivated him to become its first official spokesperson.
“I was a customer of The General in my college days at LSU,” said O’Neal. “Like most kids starting out on their own, I didn’t know much about insurance but The General helped me out and I’m still a customer today.”

The General, based in Nashville, Tenn., is a non-standard auto insurance company serving customers with various needs, specializing in those who may have difficulty obtaining insurance from other insurers at a reasonable rate. The General, part of the American Family Insurance group of companies, is active in 44 states and expects to be national by 2017.

The General primarily sells its products online and through call centers, independent agents, partners, and American Family Insurance agents.

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