BLOOMINGTON - State Farm Insurance Cos. hopes to catch them young.

The nation's largest insurer announced an advertising deal Monday with Nickelodeon television and its Go, Diego, Go Live! Tour, the latest State Farm sponsorship aimed at a young audience.

"Moms and dads are watching those shows also," noted Mark Gibson, State Farm assistant vice president of advertising.

Facing increasing competition from insurers like Geico, State Farm has boosted advertising efforts in the last year, targeting multimedia formats with access to the nation's youth.

A deal with the Disney/Pixar film "Cars" last year, for example, exposed State Farm to national print, television and Internet ads.

A sponsorship agreement with the NCAA March Madness tournament also led to a State Farm logo appearance on the EA Sports' video game College Hoops 2K7.

In the last year, State Farm also has inked sponsorship deals with the NFL and NASCAR.

"Geico and Progressive (Corp.) have been in front of the younger audiences. Maybe State Farm is worried about that," said Linda Showers, a marketing professor at Illinois State University.

Two years ago, Showers and her students conducted marketing research for State Farm, surveying the views of younger people. While the students respected State Farm, they also viewed it as an older company for an older generation.

"They may be eroding in that younger demographic," Showers said. "My inclination is to think they're feeling the heat and they're going after that younger audience."

Gibson wouldn't discuss ad spending but said State Farm planned to remain aggressive in the marketing arena.

State Farm spent $252 million on advertising in 2005, behind Geico's $297 million, according to figures from the Insurance Information Institute in New York.

From January to August that year, State Farm spent $204 million on advertising, up 21 percent from the same period in 2004. More current figures are unavailable.