A new campaign for Australian insurance firm NRMA Insurance, highlights its home and contents insurance policy with an amusing 30-second TV spot that shows a family of possums breaking into a family's home while they're away on holiday. The campaign will also feature digital, poster, radio and print components and will be headlined by the TV ad, which emphasises how easy it is to forget to lock up the family home and underlines the NRMA policy, which has you covered even if you forget to lock up. Of course, Possum damage is significantly less likely than a conventional home invasion, but in taking a lighter approach to a serious subject, the ad is far more memorable than your generic insurance company spiels.
NRMA Insurance, highlights its home and contents insurance policy with an amusing 30-second TV spot that shows a family of possums breaking into a family's home
Gary Dawson, M&C Saatchi Sydney's creative director, said that “After launching the new positioning it was important to quickly follow,” up with proof of the company's “It's Home Insurance, just NRMADE BETTER” claim and felt that this “Fun, surprising spot,” delivers that message in an entertaining way and (perhaps most importantly) “With a smile.” Media for the campaign will be handled by Mediacom.
NRMA Home Insurance – With Possums
The spot (above) was shot by Rey Carlson from Playbig Pictures, but the most striking aspect of the piece, the surprisingly realistic looking CGI possums, was supplied by Colin Renshaw and his team at Alt.vfx, one of the most highly respected and awarded visual effects companies in Australia. Renshaw, who co-founded the company in 2011 and serves as VFX supervisor, said that when they were first approached with the idea they were very excited. He said (and it's hard to argue with him here) “Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to create something as cool as a gang of marauding possums?” He added that even with their previous experiences in creating photo realistic CGI animals, “This project had plenty of new challenges” for their animators because “The brief was to create possums that moved as they would in nature.”
“Who wouldn’t jump at the chance to create something as cool as a gang of marauding possums?” Colin Renshaw from Alt.vfx
This new campaign is the latest major piece of creative work by M&C Saatchi (who reclaimed the NRMA business from Whybin\TBWA back in April) for their “NRMADE BETTER” brand positioning. Tom McFarlane, M&C Saatchi's regional creative director, feels that the new positioning is “Much more than just a new line; it’s a new attitude and a promise made by NRMA Insurance to its customers. Like all good platforms it’s built to stand the test of time.”
Official NRMA Insurance Website
Official M&C Saatchi Sydney Website
Benjamin Hiorns is a freelance writer and musician from Kidderminster in the UK who didn't realise how much he loved possums until viewing this ad.
