• by Tanya Gazdik , December 18, 2013

Allstate has launched a new online game that shows participants the potential holiday home hazards in a fun way.

Allstate's Holiday Home Decorator, developed with Leo Burnett, displays how your home could overload with too much holiday cheer. The game helps homeowners identify risks during the holidays and provides tips to avoid potential hazards.

On average, 67,500 homeowners suffer a loss during the holiday season each year with fire, theft and weather-related conditions as some of the top contributors.

Visitors use real images of their homes with satellite mapping technology. They can virtually decorate the home by adding holiday lights, decorations and snow. As the user decorates, Mayhem appears if festivities get out of hand and a preventative tip is provided.

The Decorator is one component of Allstate's Holiday Home Hazards campaign, which revealed that some threats to home security and safety rise significantly during the holiday season. 

The “Holiday Home Decorator” is the first of its kind, says Lisa Cochrane, Allstate senior vice president of integrated marketing communications.

“We’re always looking for inventive ways to reach our customers and consumers,” Cochrane tells Marketing Daily. “We’ve watched how things such as Office Max’s ‘Elf Yourself’ became viral and something people have looked forward to sharing every year, so why not develop something from Allstate that allows people to share some fun and get some safety tips at the same time?”

The company used actual Allstate claims data to uncover fire, theft and weather-related claims situations that everyone should be wary of, especially since they spike at this time of year.

The Holiday Home Decorator is aimed at reaching Americans using Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn, she says.

“While the ‘game’ has fun components, it also gives tips for homeowners and renters,” she adds. “Additionally, the Holiday Home Decorator gives Allstate Agents a fun way to share holiday safety reminders with customers via their own email and social marketing.”

Other channels where the game is featured include the Allstate Blog, the Allstate online customer portal called “My Account,” Allstate’s employee social community.

While Mayhem is probably best known for wreaking havoc on TV, he’s actually featured in many other media, from out-of-home to social, Cochrane says.

Mayhem’s Facebook page has 1.7MM+ “likes” and recently launched @Mayhem has 57,000+ followers in just 11 weeks.