TAXI DELIVERS KNOCKOUT PUNCH - Strategy

Few consumer categories create as much antipathy
as insurance. People perceive it as a grudge
purchase, and see their premiums as lost money
– hardly the sort of scenario that breeds leadership
brands. Aviva wanted to “shake up the sleepy
category” and redefi ne the relationship to operate on
the customer’s terms. The challenge to Taxi: deliver a
message to a jaded audience, not to change its mind
overnight, but to lay the ground for change – both
in the way Aviva would approach the service it offers
and in how customers would come to feel about
the company.
Research found a second and equally important
insight: for people to be more open to communication
about Aviva’s products and services, a mea culpa
was required.
Through humour and a forthright spokesman, the
introductory creative tapped into Canadians’ latent
dissatisfaction with their insurance providers. The
television component depicts ordinary people who
give insurance brokers a taste of their own medicine
(think shark feed).
Additional media delivered on more targeted
objectives. Drive-time radio and OOH reached drivers
during rush hour, often an unpleasant experience in
itself. A microsite (changeinsurance.ca) ran visitors
through a gauntlet of frustrations, but also allowed
them to share their thoughts on how insurance could
be improved. And to generate awareness among
employees, an internal communication program was
launched that included posters, signage, postcards
and a tongue-in-cheek puppy screensaver.
Within a single month, the campaign achieved
45% awareness, along with a 300% increase in
aided brand awareness. And as a demonstration
of the chord the campaign struck with Canadians,
Aviva received thousands of suggestions from
consumers on how to change insurance for the
better.
TAXI • AVIVA CANADA CANADA
STRATEGY November 2008 29