Zurich loves to joke
Zurich Financial Services is continuing its international campaign. In it, Publicis shows that even insurers have a sense of humor.
Insurance Zurich Financial Services continues its international campaign. Publicis shows that insurers also have a sense of humor. At the beginning of last year, Zurich Financial Services launched an international image campaign. With the exception of Switzerland, Zurich had previously been a blank slate for consumers. To establish the Group as a top-of-mind insurer, the Swiss financial services provider's brand strategists commissioned a global advertising campaign. The Zurich agency Publicis secured the advertising budget in 2004 and brought in two CDs for the international project, who are considered experienced in handling projects of this size. The Swiss Sacha Moser and the American Tim Hoppin have been paving the way to the top in terms of communication ever since.
Many people still remember the first campaign. The commercial was broadcast a few hundred times in cinemas and on television. A young man jogs casually through a suburb on so-called "jump boots". A few scenes further on, he disappears in the city in the hustle and bustle of pedestrians, all of whom are also on such hydraulic metal stilts. The commercial is accompanied by atmospheric music by Spacetrain, which is likely to be burned into the minds of most viewers like a CD. "The response to the campaign was very positive. We received thousands of emails," Sacha Moser sums up.
The Publicis team now wants to build on the success of the first campaign. This time, the creatives want to go into detail. American Tim Hoppin describes the project as a "Familiarity Campaign". This means that once the brand has been activated in the minds of consumers, the aim is to position the financial services provider and its services on the global insurance market. Sacha Moser: "Now that people know the name, the next step is to communicate what Zurich has to offer."
The aim is to raise awareness of the wide range of insurance products. And the creatives want to do this with humor, which is rarely used in this industry. Various TV commercials focus on insurance-related cases in surreal, over-the-top situations. For example, there is the obviously misguided satellite that lands on the car. The ironic words: "What if it always hit you?" Then there is the off-road vehicle driver who has probably taken the car advertisement too literally and wanted to go a bit too high with his off-roader. Scenes like this show that the insurer wants to make customers risk-conscious and Zurich-conscious at the same time with tongue-in-cheek humor. The current media plans include three commercials and ten advertisements.
The slogan "Because change happenz" with the teasing Z at the end is also consistently continued in the TV commercials and advertisements. Head of copywriting Tim Hoppin: "The slogan works. The Z symbolizes the insurer's presence, even if the world is constantly changing."
The launch of the second campaign is a further step towards "leading insurance" in important markets such as the UK, as shown by a golf commercial that was shot especially for the Anglo-Saxon cultural area. In it, Publicis staged everyday accident situations that do not end tragically, but are prevented with the warning call "Fore" (Flying Object Returning to Earth). In golf, "Fore" is called out when the ball has been missed and there is a risk of hitting other players.
The creative duo Moser and Hoppin were able to engage renowned filmmakers such as Laurence Dunmore (The Libertine) to shoot the commercials. And for the print shoots, star photographer Uwe Düttmann from Hamburg put himself at the creative service of Publicis.
Christian Lüscher
Advertising helper IFO (Identified Flying Object)What's in store for us? Advertisers are increasingly using satellites as eye-catchers. Is this junk from outer space a threat? Publicis is currently showing one of these massive celestial bodies smashed to pieces on the ground in the current Zurich campaign. Incidentally, the satellite specially constructed for the shoot weighed more than two tons. Wirz Werbung had an easier time of it.
Wirz Werbung staged a Russian satellite for the job provider Jobwinner. In the same macabre way as Publicis. But the thing was only constructed from two ironing boards. We don't need to be afraid of space debris, as the advertising likes to suggest. Fortunately, no such accidents have been documented to date.
Many people still remember the first campaign. The commercial was broadcast a few hundred times in cinemas and on television. A young man jogs casually through a suburb on so-called "jump boots". A few scenes further on, he disappears in the city in the hustle and bustle of pedestrians, all of whom are also on such hydraulic metal stilts. The commercial is accompanied by atmospheric music by Spacetrain, which is likely to be burned into the minds of most viewers like a CD. "The response to the campaign was very positive. We received thousands of emails," Sacha Moser sums up.
The Publicis team now wants to build on the success of the first campaign. This time, the creatives want to go into detail. American Tim Hoppin describes the project as a "Familiarity Campaign". This means that once the brand has been activated in the minds of consumers, the aim is to position the financial services provider and its services on the global insurance market. Sacha Moser: "Now that people know the name, the next step is to communicate what Zurich has to offer."
The aim is to raise awareness of the wide range of insurance products. And the creatives want to do this with humor, which is rarely used in this industry. Various TV commercials focus on insurance-related cases in surreal, over-the-top situations. For example, there is the obviously misguided satellite that lands on the car. The ironic words: "What if it always hit you?" Then there is the off-road vehicle driver who has probably taken the car advertisement too literally and wanted to go a bit too high with his off-roader. Scenes like this show that the insurer wants to make customers risk-conscious and Zurich-conscious at the same time with tongue-in-cheek humor. The current media plans include three commercials and ten advertisements.
The slogan "Because change happenz" with the teasing Z at the end is also consistently continued in the TV commercials and advertisements. Head of copywriting Tim Hoppin: "The slogan works. The Z symbolizes the insurer's presence, even if the world is constantly changing."
The launch of the second campaign is a further step towards "leading insurance" in important markets such as the UK, as shown by a golf commercial that was shot especially for the Anglo-Saxon cultural area. In it, Publicis staged everyday accident situations that do not end tragically, but are prevented with the warning call "Fore" (Flying Object Returning to Earth). In golf, "Fore" is called out when the ball has been missed and there is a risk of hitting other players.
The creative duo Moser and Hoppin were able to engage renowned filmmakers such as Laurence Dunmore (The Libertine) to shoot the commercials. And for the print shoots, star photographer Uwe Düttmann from Hamburg put himself at the creative service of Publicis.
Christian Lüscher
Advertising helper IFO (Identified Flying Object)What's in store for us? Advertisers are increasingly using satellites as eye-catchers. Is this junk from outer space a threat? Publicis is currently showing one of these massive celestial bodies smashed to pieces on the ground in the current Zurich campaign. Incidentally, the satellite specially constructed for the shoot weighed more than two tons. Wirz Werbung had an easier time of it.
Wirz Werbung staged a Russian satellite for the job provider Jobwinner. In the same macabre way as Publicis. But the thing was only constructed from two ironing boards. We don't need to be afraid of space debris, as the advertising likes to suggest. Fortunately, no such accidents have been documented to date.
