State gets creative with HERO truck sponsorships

By ALYSE KNORR

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

This week, 22 signs announcing the Georgia Department of Transportation’s Highway Emergency Response Operators (HERO) program were put up on highways around Atlanta.

At the bottom of each sign were the words “sponsored by State Farm” and an image of the insurance company’s logo.

The corporate logo on these highway signs is a result of a sponsorship agreement between State Farm and the Georgia DOT announced last May.

Under the terms of the agreement, State Farm pays GDOT $1.7 million per year for the next three years.

GDOT uses the money to support its HERO units, which clear the road after traffic incidents and help stranded motorists with minor mechanical problems.

In return, State Farm logos were placed on HERO vehicles, operator uniforms and the signs delineating the HERO service area that went up this week.

And the program is now known as the Georgia DOT HERO Program, sponsored by State Farm Insurance.

The vehicle wrapping process was completed last week, said State Farm spokesman Justin Tomczak, meaning that all 86 HERO units now bear the State Farm logo.

For the state of Georgia, the sponsorship is a form of creative financing in a tough economic climate.

For State Farm, Tomczak said, it’s a way for State Farm to advertise its “good neighbor” company message.

“This is an innovative way that we can get our name out there but we’re supporting a program that provides a great service to motorists,” Tomczak said.

Tomczak and Monica Luck, spokeswoman for GDOT, agreed that so far, the program has been a “win-win” success.

“The H.E.R.O program has proven that it saves lives and prevents secondary accidents,” Tomczak said. “Maintaining H.E.R.O services makes Georgia’s highways safer for all motorists.”

Luck said that GDOT has not encountered any confusion with motorists about the State Farm-DOT relationship and that drivers still send their “thank-yous” directly to GDOT.

“As far as I know, no one has contacted State Farm for motorist aid thinking that State Farm runs the HERO program,” Luck said.

During the process of negotiating the sponsorship, Luck said, GDOT was careful to ensure that the HERO “big yellow truck” image was preserved.

“The HERO program is one of GDOT’s most successful to date,” Luck said. “We didn’t want to risk losing that via any confusion with a total re-branding.”

Luck said that in some other states with State Farm-sponsored programs, safety service patrol trucks are completely shrink-wrapped in State Farm’s red and white colors.

“To make sure motorists were not confused, we kept the labeling to the logo and some red and white trim,” Luck said.

Tomczak said he has not heard of any motorists confusing the HERO trucks for State Farm vehicles, either.

“It’s clearly branded as a state vehicle, it’s just us in partnership and sponsored by us,” Tomczak said.

State Farm insures about one out of every four cars in Georgia, Tomczak said.

The insurance company sponsors similar programs in Florida, Pennsylvania and Colorado, Tomczak said.

The State Farm sponsorship is the DOT’s only active sponsorship program with a private company, Luck said.

Tomczak estimated that since the sponsorship started, HERO units have assisted about 15,000 motorists. In June, HERO units assisted in 12,609 traffic incidents.