Esurance

Infobox_Company
company_name = Esurance Inc.
company_
company_type = Private, Part of White Mountains Insurance Group
company_slogan = Quote. Buy. Print.
foundation = 1998
location = San Francisco, California, USA
key_people =
num_employees = Approx. 1500
industry = Insurance
products = Personal Lines Insurance
revenue = $803 Million USD (2007)
homepage = [http://www.esurance.com/ www.esurance.com]

Esurance Inc. (not to be confused with esure, a British insurance provider) is an American auto insurance provider headquartered in San Francisco, California.

History

Esurance was founded in 1998 under the name of SiliconSierra Holdings Inc. Esurance launched its Web site and started writing personal auto insurance in December 1999. As of March 31, 2006, it has become one of the fastest growing auto insurance companies in America, based on year-over-year premium growth.

In 2000 Esurance was acquired by Folksamerica Holding Company, Inc. (a subsidiary of White Mountains Insurance Group). Esurance is now a direct subsidiary of White Mountains.

Erin Esurance

Esurance commercials are animated, and feature a pink-haired female spy named Erin Esurance, who poses as an auto-insurance agent. The character was created by Kristen Brewe, the director of brand and public relations for Esurance, and designed by artist Phil Robinson. The goal was to juxtapose a widely disliked business, insurance, with a popular superhero archetype. In her first three years, the character was used in over 30 commercials. [cite news
last = Ehlers
first = Matt
title = She's one red-hot 'toon: Shapely agent in insurance ads inspires repurposed images on the Internet.
url = http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-32507592_ITM
publisher = News & Observer
location = Raleigh, NC
date = 2007-07-32
accessdate = 2008-07-21 ]

The character also guest-starred on an episode of "Who Wants to be a Superhero?". [cite news
first = Beth
last = Snyder Bulick
title = Why Sci-Fi grabs more than geeks; Human-focused content, novel marketing pushes channel into mainstream
url = http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-30649810_ITM
publisher = Advertising Age
date = 2007-04-23
accessdate = 2008-07-21 ]

The commercials are animated by W!LDBRAIN and the Ghostbot animation firms using Adobe Flash.

References