In my last blog, I examined the new ways that old brands sought to connect with their customers, especially Millennials. I was especially annoyed by JC Penney's attempts to revamp its stodgy image by running edgy new ads and redesigning stores to include coffee, juice bars and yoga stations.

That was before I heard about State Farm and its Next Door pilot project.

Last August, State Farm quietly opened a storefront in Chicago's trendy Lincoln Park. There's nothing about the location to suggest insurance; a peek inside reveals a coffee bar, comfy furniture and young coffee drinkers working on their laptops, just like any Starbucks.

nextdoor

But beneath the surface, Next Door is more than a bunch of baristas. Drop by the web page and you won't find a lot of overt references to insurance. Tabs highlight “coaching,” “classes” and “community,” and the gallery section urges visitors to “snag a seat,” to “connect and chillax.”

Dig deeper and you'll see that the location offers meeting space for people in the neighborhood, as well as free financial education classes on subjects as diverse as writing a business plan, burglar-proofing an apartment or doing taxes.

What's the thinking behind this? I spoke with Brett Myers, Next Door's program director, who discussed what's behind this ”experiment.”

Brett made it clear that in its brief year, Next Door is emphatically not a sales location. Although the people who moderate the classes are trained financial coaches, they're not there to sell insurance, but to have conversations, in groups or one on one, with young buyers on what they need and want.

It's all about education, both for the Millennials and for State Farm. “This is a market that needs financial literacy and that struggles with some of the existing mediums to do that,” he said. “We created Next Door as a way for us to understand the consumer rather than to sell. It's a learning lab for us to find out how to address Gen Y consumers.”

Most of the people who use Next Door hear about it because they live in the neighborhood. And the neighborhood drives what Next Door does. Besides the State Farm-scheduled financial workshops, a recent event hosted volunteers collecting backpacks and school supplies for a local high school. Other events include a “business in the city” small-business mentoring program, a healthy eating presentation, and yes, yoga classes — “all driven by the user base in the community,” Brett said.

The location is so robust that it hosts 20 events in a slow month, 35 if things are hopping, he added.

When I asked him if all this community engagement translated into something as prosaic as insurance leads or sales, Brett said if someone taking a class or seeking financial advice specifically asked about buying insurance, yes, they would steer him or her to a local State Farm agent.

So far, State Farm agents are “generally positive” about the project, Brett said. He meets regularly with agent groups and the message he conveys is that Next Door reinforces person-to-person interaction for a demographic that primarily engages via technolocy. “Next Door is proving that even with the younger generation, people want to talk to a person or connect with their peers in person,” he said. “There's a time, place and reason for a physical location and a person to help with certain things.”

In spite of what looks like success, State Farm is in no hurry to roll out the Next Door concept to other cities, Brett said. “Even though we've had a good first year, like any business, we're still trying to figure out how it works,” he said.

Special Reports /

Toops Scoops: Looking for Gen Y, State Farm Goes &quot;Next Door&quot;

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Toops Scoops: Looking for Gen Y, State Farm Goes "Next Door"