Despite its importance, there are few purchases we resent making more than insurance. We want to spend as little time thinking about it and yet we all know how complicated, frustrating and drawn out the experience can be. Direct Line, a brand that built its heritage on saving customers time and money by “cutting out the middle man” wanted to change this and M&C Saatchi saw the opportunity for a brutally simple solution: Direct Line would become the straightforward insurance provider.
The vehicle for this new positioning was the ’demanding customers’ campaign, proving that Direct Line’s products and staff could withstand the test of even the most demanding customers. The face of Direct Line was Derek (played by Chris Addison) who would explain just how simple and straightforward Direct Line’s insurance was in the face of some truly uncooperative customers played by some of the UK’s top comedic actors: Jade the animal obsessive (Lorna Watson), John the ‘wheeler dealer’ (Alexander Armstrong) and Julia the eccentric auntie (Amelia Bullmore). The most recent campaign see’s the introduction of Rob and Suze, the bickering couple shopping for home insurance (Darren Boyd and Doon Mackichan).
The results were great. In the first year of the campaign, Direct Line beat its target for average cost per quote - one of the most important measures in the insurance business. Also, consideration of Direct Line, the best predictor of how likely people are to get a quote, rose 8% for Home and 3% for Motor. No mean feat in such a competitive marketplace!
Attracting Comedy Talent
January 26th, 2012