Do you like your insurance ads short and cheeky, or long and weepy?

Ad Nut has returned from Cannes, where countless glasses of rosé washed down copious cheekfuls of the most overpriced mixed nuts that could possibly be expensed by the many people in the industry who were hoping to influence this influential woodland creature.

Or perhaps Ad Nut suffered a knock to the head and hallucinated all of the above.

Anyway, the point is that Ad Nut is back. And the inbox in the old oak tree is chock full of accumulated agency output. So let's take a look at...[shuffles through a bunch of press materials]...a trio of insurance ads.

First, we have a piece from BMF for TAL (Australia). The gist of it is that scars are good, or at least should be celebrated, because they're part of what makes us who we are.  

Next we have a longish-form film from BLKJ for Great Eastern (Singapore), and directed by Simon Cracknell of the Sweetshop. It's got a twist of sorts partway through, so Ad Nut won't spoil it.

Finally, we have a set of TVCs for GIO (Australia) by Leo Burnett. Ad Nut is partial to the one about a tomato (below), but there's also versions about a drop of water, a stone, a camera and a streetlight. 

 

Ad Nut has no real quarrel with any of these. They're all well made and capture your attention. Ad Nut can't deny that the first two are moving stories. Even a cynic of a different species can empathize with the humans shown in them.

However, Ad Nut still has to wonder whether a dramatic, moving story—no matter how well executed and compelling it is—really makes as much of an impression for a brand as people seem to think it does. Especially when so many other players in the same space have done the same thing in recent years.  

For those reasons, Ad Nut gives the nod to Leo Burnett's work for GIO here. It's good old-fashioned product-benefit stuff. Better yet, the makers seem to realize that people don't want to watch insurance ads—which seems like a sound assumption. Thus they sneak into your brain by making you initially think you're not watching an insurance ad, and then they make their points in a marvelously economical way once they have to make their intent clear. Most importantly, the repetition of seeing multiple instances of the campaign over time has got to do a better job of creating a lasting impression than a dramatic story that could have basically any company's logo at the end. 

Who doesn't want more insurance ads? Here's some recent insurance ads that Ad Nut liked: These rich, dead Singaporeans wish they'd protected their wealth from their a-hole kids A toilet-seat drama sells life insurance A Japanese warrior film gets a prequel in Malaysia A groom's shocking wedding speech makes for a brilliant retirement-planning ad Klepto cats and karate kids: AAMI's winning formula continues to deliver ...and some inevitable disappointments: Prudential: targeting people that 'DO' since 2019 HSBC re-hatches insurance brand, with a tepid egg story Manulife issues a standard-issue campaign

CREDITS

TAL

TAL, General Manager Brand & Communications: Ant Wilson
TAL, Senior Manager, Brand Strategy: Camille Hiess
TAL, Manager, Brand & Customer Advocacy: Jeannie Vo

Executive Creative Director: Alex Derwin
Deputy ECD: Jen Speirs
Senior Copywriter: James Sexton
Senior Art Director: Nadia Ahmed
Executive Planning Director: Christina Aventi
Group Strategic Planner: David Warren
Managing Director: Stephen McArdle
Group Account Director: Danielle Richards
Account Director: Stef Barry
Account Executive: Phoebe Good
Head of Broadcast: Jenny Lee-Archer
Agency Producer: Tamara Kennon
Art Buyer: Basir Salleh
Print Producer: Jane Winnick

Production company : Scoundrel
Director: Michael Spiccia
Executive Producers: Kate Gooden, Adrian Shapiro
Post Production Company: The Butchey, The Refinery
Editor: Joanna Scott
DoP: Jeremy Rouse
Production designer: Nicki Gardiner
Sound: Rumble Studios
Music: Level 2 Music
Photographer: Derek Henderson
Media agency: Spark
Spark Foundry General Manager: Mathew Turl
Spark Foundry Client Director: Kaylene Tunney 
Spark Foundry Client Manager: Nell Corbett 

GREAT EASTERN

Agency: BLKJ
Founder / CEO: Rowena Bhagchandani
Founder / ECD: Joji Jacob
Associate Creative Director: Sid Lim
Creative Group Head: Michael Chin
Writer: Lina Lim
Senior Account Director: Anna Adipue
Account Manager: Bon Koh
Senior Account Executive: Tracy Ong
Producer: Jaye Ong
Producer: Hidayah Asari

Production Company: Sweetshop
Director: Simon Cracknell
Managing Director & Executive Producer: Laura Geagea
Producer: Irene Gan

GIO

Client: GIO (Part of Suncorp Group)

Executive General Manager, Brand & Marketing / CMO: Mim Haysom

Executive Manager, Marketing Insurance: Mark Behr

Marketing Manager: Jo-Anne Tierney

Go to Market Lead: Bryony Nickless

Creative Agency: Leo Burnett

Chief Creative Officer: Jason Williams
Executive Creative Director: Grant McAloon
Creative Directors: Ian Broekhuizen & Malcolm Caldwell

Creative Team: Ben Newman & Sarah Parris 

Chief Client Partner: Madeleine Marsh

Senior Business Director: Grace Vizor

Project Manager: Cicley Milsom

Head of Strategy: Graham Alvarez
Senior Strategist: Abigail Dubin-Rhodin

Senior Integrated Producer: Rachel Devine


Production Company: Finch

Director: Luke Bouchier

Post House: Blackbird 

Sound and Compositions: Song Zu

Ad Nut is a surprisingly literate woodland creature that for unknown reasons has an unhealthy obsession with advertising. Ad Nut gathers ads from all over Asia and the world for your viewing pleasure, because Ad Nut loves you. You can also check out Ad Nut's Advertising Hall of Fame, or read about Ad Nut's strange obsession with 'murderous beasts'.