Direct Line has managed to rope in acclaimed actor Harvey Keitel to star in a 40-second ad, which challenges rival insurance firms to match its customer offering. The ad, which forms the spine of a new £40 million campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi London, sees Keitel reprising his role as Winston Wolfe from Quentin Tarantino's “Pulp Fiction,” one of the nineties most iconic characters and one of its most iconic and memorable films. Titled simply “Break In, Fire,” the ad was first screened during Saturday night's broadcast of “The X Factor” on ITV, and introduces the insurance firm's new “We're On It” brand proposition.

The ad, which forms the spine of a new £40 million campaign from Saatchi & Saatchi London, sees Keitel reprising his role as Winston Wolfe from Quentin Tarantino's “Pulp Fiction.”

The spot (which you can view below) shows Keitel introducing himself as “Problem fixer,” Winston Wolfe, who helps UK consumers solve a range on “Insurance dilemmas,” which (it is inferred) other insurance firms are simply ill-equipped to handle by including the tagline “Can your insurance do that.” It's a move that sees the brand differentiating itself as a firm that offers excellent customer service in a sector that has become incredibly commoditised of late. The main ad will be supplemented by a series of humorous “How to” videos featuring Keitel's character and his “Associate” Billy. These videos will be spread by the brand's social media channels. The campaign is the first created by Saatchi & Saatchi since it picked up the business from M&C Saatchi earlier this year.

“Break In, Fire” - Direct Line

The company, which also owns the Churchill, Privilege and Green Flag brands, was sold by previous owner RBS in 2012, and launched an IPO later that year. It has subsequently invested much of its efforts into customer services, hoping to distance themselves from the typical perception of insurance companies as price-obsessed “Pirate,” a perception that hasn't been helped by price comparison sites such as “Compare the Market” and “Go Compare.” The brand also created their own in-house digital agency team last year to “Increase the depth” of its customer relationships. Kerry Chivers, Direct Line's brand director, said that the brand is trying to express their desire to make a difference by fixing things for their customers and “Using new processes which help speed up claims.” She said that when something goes wrong, they know their customers want to know their insurance firm will be “Ready to fix their problems with the minimum amount of hassle.”

Direct Line's group marketing director, Mark Evans, believes the new campaign is a culmination of the brand's effort to distance itself from the less service-led firms in the sector

Direct Line's group marketing director, Mark Evans, believes the new campaign is a culmination of the brand's effort to distance itself from the less service-led firms in the sector. He said they want Direct Line to “Lead the category and change customer perceptions of what really matters when buying insurance.” He also admitted that the insurance industry “Has been commoditised with an exaggerated focus on price and the point of purchase, leading to a distinct lack of trust in the sector,” and feels the new proposition addresses this fact by demonstrating that Direct Line “Will take the hassle out of making a claim and getting customers back on their feet in their moment of need, whilst continuing to offer great prices." Keitel's character was used with Tarantino's permission and Evans feels that Winston Wolfe is a perfect metaphor of its intention to remove the hassle from their customers' lives. He posits the idea of the “Fixer” as a “Re-frame of the role of insurance” by showing that rather than believing they can “Protect” their customers, they would prefer to “Make their problems disappear with as little hassle as possible."

Official Direct Line Website

Official Saatchi & Saatchi London Website

Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from the UK. Pulp Fiction sits quite comfortably in his top 20 films so doesn't really know how to feel right now.