NRMA sells insurance by pledging new koala homes

Ad Nut tends to judge ads by how they leave Ad Nut feeling. It might be because it's Monday morning, or because it features a fellow tree-dwelling creature, but this spot by Australian firm NRMA Insurance and The Monkeys, part of Accenture Interactive, has been like a warm hug on a cold day. 

No, it may not be winning any Oscars for the originality of the idea — vulnerable animal, kind child on a mission to help, gentle piano music, you get the picture —but it is a highly cute way of promoting NRMA's new "every home is worth protecting" tagline.

Ad Nut is also happy to see this co-opting of cuteness being backed up by real action: NRMA has started a three-year partnership with Conversation Volunteers Australia to plant a tree — a 'koala home' — for every home insurance policy sold until the end of 2019. A new website illustrates the scale of the threat to Australia's koala population, which is in decline, and encourages volunteers to get involved. 

They even added a button linking to Facebook Messenger, so people (or ad-critiquing squirrels) can 'chat' to 'Arlo', the 18-month-old koala featured in the ad — and you can watch a live 'Koala Cam' streaming footage from the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary in Queensland. 

That's a lot of effort for one insurance campaign. It's the latest for NRMA by The Monkeys, who also produced the March 2018 'Help is Who We Are' campaign, a 'sort-of musical' as Ad Nut called it at the time, featuring firemen rescuing a koala from a bushfire, which has had 5 million views on YouTube. (Not everyone liked it, it should be noted). 

'Every Home is Worth Protecting' will run for three months across TV, outdoor and radio (the radio version features Robyn Moore, the voice of cartoon koala Blinky Bill) as well as online.  The campaign was developed by an integrated agency group, according to the press release, comprised of The Monkeys, Mindshare, CHE Proximity, Havas and Thinkerbell. 

CREDITS

Client: NRMA Insurance
Creative: The Monkeys
Production: Revolver/Will O’Rourke – Gary Freedman
Post Production: Arc Edit/Fin Design
Music: Sonar Music
Sound Design: Squeak E Clean Studios
Photography: The Kitchen – Toby Burrows
Production: Revolver
Media: Mindshare
Partnerships: Havas
PR: Thinkerbell
1:1: CHE Proximity

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'.