Allstate


The Allstate Corporation is an American insurance company, headquartered in Glenview, Illinois since 2022. Founded in 1931 as part of Sears, Roebuck and Co., it was spun off in 1993, but was still partially owned by Sears until it became an independent company completely in June 1995. The company also has personal line insurance operations in Canada.
Allstate is a large corporation, and with 2018 revenues of $39.8 billion, it ranked 79th in the 2019 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue. Its long-running advertising campaign, in use since 1950, asks, "Are you in good hands?", and the recognizable logo portrays a pair of human hands.

History

In 1925, Sears held a national contest to decide the name of a new brand of car tires. After 2,253,746 name submissions from 937,886 participants, "Allstate" was chosen. Hans Simonson of Bismarck, North Dakota, received a $5,000 cash prize for his winning entry among a list of 31 he submitted. The trademark was officially registered on April 19, 1927, and the tires' new name made its debut in the spring 1927 Sears catalog.
The idea for Allstate Insurance Company came when insurance broker Carl L. Odell proposed to Robert E. Wood, his neighbor, the idea of selling auto insurance by direct mail. The idea appealed to Wood, and the proposal was sent to the Sears board of directors, which approved it. Allstate Insurance Company, named after Sears' tire line, went into business on April 17, 1931, offering auto insurance by direct mail and through the Sears catalog. This was in line with one of the objectives of a company to sell automobile insurance in the same manner as Sears sold its merchandise.
Lessing J. Rosenwald was Allstate's first board chairman, and Odell was named vice president and secretary.
In 1933, at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago, Allstate's Richard E. Roskam sold insurance at a booth in the Sears pavilion. In 1934, Allstate opened its first permanent sales office in a Chicago Sears store.
In 1941, only about a quarter of US drivers had auto liability insurance. This led to the state of New York passing a law that established the financial responsibility of drivers for damage or injuries resulting from auto mishaps. That law inspired legislation in other states, and by the mid-1950s, nearly every state had some sort of financial responsibility law on its books.
In 1949, the Allstate Headquarters Building was completed at 3246 W. Arthington Street in Chicago as a part of the Sears, Roebuck and Company Complex. The midrise building is vacant and in danger of demolition. The building is noted for its early postwar midrise construction. This location was vacated when the company relocated in the postwar years.
The company's "You're in Good Hands with Allstate" slogan was created in 1950 by Allstate's general sales manager Davis W. Ellis. At the end of the decade, it was used in the company's first network-television advertising campaign, which featured actor Ed Reimers.
Allstate added products throughout the 1950s, including fire insurance in 1954 and homeowners and life insurance in 1957. Allstate began selling insurance to Canadians in 1953. Allstate Insurance Company of Canada was incorporated in 1964.
In 1967, the company's home office was moved from Skokie to Northbrook, Illinois. Allstate continued to sell additional types of insurance to customers throughout the decade, including worker's-compensation insurance in 1964, surety bonds in 1966, inland-marine coverage in 1967, and a business package policy in 1969.
The brand itself expanded in the 1950s and 1960s and could be found on a variety of products such as fire extinguishers and motor scooters. In 1952, an Allstate car was produced, but it was a flop; it was pulled from stores by 1953. The automobile was based on the Henry J car manufactured by Kaiser Motors. The Allstate brand was eventually limited to insurance, tires, and car batteries by the late 1960s, before becoming insurance only in the mid-1970s.
In 1991, the company went public. In June 1993, 19.8% of Allstate became public through a stock offering. Allstate became completely independent in June 1995, when Sears spun off the remaining 80% stake in the company, distributing 350.5 million shares of Allstate stock to its stockholders. At the time, it was the largest IPO to date.
In 1999, Allstate purchased the personal-lines division of CNA Financial and subsequently renamed it to Encompass Insurance Company.
In 2003, actor Dennis Haysbert became Allstate's spokesman, using the tagline "That’s Allstate’s stand."
In May 2011, Allstate announced that it was purchasing Esurance and rate-comparison site Answer Financial for about $1 billion.
In 2012, Allstate Solutions Private Limited was inaugurated in Bangalore; it is a technology and operations center to provide software development and business process outsourcing services to its US parent.
In January 2017, Allstate acquired SquareTrade, a consumer electronics and appliance protection plan provider. The acquisition cost a reported $1.4 billion from a group of shareholders.
In July 2020, Allstate announced it was acquiring National General for $4 billion. The deal closed in January 2021.
In 2021 Allstate completed sale of its life insurance and annuity businesses. One of the divested businesses was Allstate Life Insurance Company of New York, which became part of Wilton Reassurance Life Company of New York. Another was the similarly named Allstate Life Insurance Company, purchased by Everlake Holdings and renamed Everlake Life Insurance Company. A third divested business was Allstate Assurance Co, also purchased by Everlake Holdings.
In 2025, Chief Information Officer Zulfi Jeevanjee spoke about Allstate's use of AI to generate emails to customers that would sound less confusing and more understanding: "When these emails used to go out, even though we had standards and so on, they would include a lot of insurance jargon. They weren’t very empathetic…Claims agents would get frustrated, and so it wasn’t necessarily great communication." He added, "The claim agent still looks at them just to make sure they’re accurate, but they’re not writing them anymore." After Futurism reported on this, a spokesperson from Allstate's media relations team contacted them demanding that they take down the blog post in question.

Corporate leadership

The people in this section are members of corporate leadership.

CEOs

Since its IPO in 1993:
  • Thomas J. Wilson
  • Edward Liddy
  • Jerry D. Choate
  • Wayne E. Hedien

    Current leadership

  • Thomas J. Wilson - chairman, CEO, President of The Allstate Corporation
  • Steven E. Shebik - Vice Chairman of The Allstate Corporation and CEO of Allstate Life Insurance Company
  • Brian Bohaty - Executive VP of Corporate Business Transformation
  • Don Civgin - President of Allstate Service Businesses
  • John Dugenske - Executive VP, Chief Investment and Strategy Officer of The Allstate Corporation and President of Allstate Investments
  • Mary Jane Fortin - President of Allstate Financial
  • Suren Gupta - Executive VP of Allstate Technology & Strategic Ventures
  • Guy Hill - Executive VP of Product Integration & Management
  • Susan Lees - Executive VP, General Counsel, and Secretary
  • Jess Merten - Executive VP and Chief Risk Officer of Allstate Insurance Company
  • David Prendergast - President of Allstate East Territory
  • Mario Rizzo - Executive VP and Chief Financial Officer of The Allstate Corporation
  • Ken Rosen - Executive VP and Chief Claims Officer

    Advertising

"Good hands"

Allstate's slogan "You're in good hands" was created in the 1950s by Allstate Insurance Company's sales executive, Davis W. Ellis, based on a similar phrase he used to reassure his wife about a doctor caring for their child. It has been the slogan ever since 1950. Allstate also refer to themselves as the "Good Hands People".
In the 1960s and 1970s, TV, print and radio advertising featured Allstate's spokesman, Ed Reimers. Reimers was often shown making the cupped-hand gesture. For 22 years, he remained the spokesman.
This 1975 commercial that the egg rolls on the table, then it fell down and it almost cracked all the way down to the floor, but it was finally saved by the hand before placing it in the nest gently.
A study in 2000 by Northwestern University's Medill Graduate Department of Integrated Marketing Communications found that the Allstate slogan "You're in good hands" ranked as the most recognizable in America.

Logo

Allstate's original hands logo was designed by Theodore Conterio in the 1950s. The employees were told whoever could come up with the best logo would win $50. Theodore Conterio came up with the design based on the slogan, "You're in good hands," and won the $50 prize.

"Allstate's stand"

Beginning in 2003, as policy growth slowed, Allstate's television commercials used spokesman Dennis Haysbert. The ads were intended to carry the message that Allstate's service was superior to that from low-cost providers GEICO and Progressive. Haysbert appeared in more than 250 commercials between 2003 and 2016.

Mayhem

Mayhem was created by Leo Burnett Worldwide. Burnett pitched the character to Allstate as "Mr. Mayhem", comparing him to the character Mr. White from the 1992 film Reservoir Dogs played by Harvey Keitel.
Mayhem has been played by Dean Winters since the campaign was launched in April 2010. The character wears a black suit, white dress shirt, and black necktie and his face is usually bruised, scarred, or wearing a butterfly bandage.
The formula for almost every Mayhem commercial has been the same. To begin the commercial, Mayhem identifies the risk he is portraying. He gives context into the situation and hints at an impending disaster that he will cause, which then takes place. For instance, a 2015 ad features Mayhem playing a portable grill hastily loaded into a car before being fully extinguished, which leads to an explosion when the still-burning embers ignite an enormous bottle of lighter fluid. Once the disaster's result is revealed, Mayhem warns that certain "cut-rate" policies lack coverage for the situation he has caused, advising the viewers to get their insurance policies through Allstate. Each commercial ends with Mayhem telling the viewers that by having Allstate, they will be "better protected from mayhem...like me." Damage to his clothing and injuries to his person carry over from one commercial to the next.
In some ads, Mayhem also has advised against going without roadside assistance. In separate advertisements, he described what could happen in the face of a catastrophe while driving; these consisted of having to stay in a creepy roadside motel overnight because one's car ran out of fuel, being forced to change a tire in a heavy downpour, being forced to stay at an awkward family gathering because one's car battery died, and potentially becoming a victim of crime due to a breakdown in the wrong neighborhood.
A series of ads in early 2018 featured Mayhem with a New Year's resolution to help keep people and property safe. He took the role of various pieces of safety equipment, such as a lightning rod mounted on a house's roof to protect it during storms or a flare placed to warn drivers of a roadside vehicle breakdown. However, less than a month into the new year, he broke his resolution and returned to his old habit of causing chaos and damage.
Allstate developed the campaign "Mayhem" and the character in response to being ranked fourth in advertising spending behind GEICO, State Farm, and Progressive. Allstate had an existing campaign called "Our Stand" featuring Dennis Haysbert that targeted "older, more traditional customers", and the company sought to develop a campaign that would skew toward younger customers. Nina Abnee, executive vice president at Burnett, said "We wanted to kick Flo's ass." The campaign was first launched in mid-June 2010. The character was featured in TV and radio spots as well as on billboards and Internet banners. Some ads were adjusted to capture local details. By mid-2011, Allstate had won around 80 industry awards for the campaign.
There is a Hispanic version named La Mala Suerte for the Spanish-speaking market portrayed by Alberto Mateo.