Well, somebody's got to pay for all those tv ads.

Are their auto and motorcycle provided by separate divisions of the company? The ads kind of imply they're separate, but I also see Flo and her crew on both ads.
I have State Farm, and while my rates went up a little a lot had to do with getting a much newer vehicle. What was interesting was that for similar coverage I'm paying ~20% less than my wife. She called the agent to ask why and was told that since I drive under 7500 mi/yr I get a lower rate. I have no idea how they know how much I drive, she said they implied they had DMV info. That's creepy, and certainly nothing I agreed to. Gonna have to investigate that further.
That's the marketing hype, real world mileage varies considerably. Most independent agents I've ever dealt with primarily work with small, obscure companies with widely variable levels of customer service. If you need to file a claim, you need to go thru your local agent who may or may not give a crap about you. My experience with them has not been good, either with pricing or service.
What's the incentive for these companies no one has heard of to provide good service? It's not like the big guys whose image is on the line every day. If Allstate, Progressive, etc. get a rep for being difficult to deal with, it's a news story, not so much for Broomstick County Firemen's Mutual. I see them more as a last resort for high risk customers.