A reframing game / As we know from speaking to NRMA Insurance (another leading Australian insurer) CMO Brent Smart, insurance is a low-interest category. ‘For most people, insurance is a chore, it’s not very interesting,’ he says. Since 80% of people pay each time their insurance policy comes up for renewal, only 20% of people are actively shopping the category. So rather than talking about product, features and price, insurance brands need to look for lateral ways to catch the attention of the 80%. Like NRMA, which has launched preventative safety campaigns such as First Saturday and Ramp Rater, Suncorp is taking a proactive, rather than reactive approach with One House to Save Many. The benefits go two ways: as Suncorp points out, 97% of disaster funding is spent on repairing and rebuilding, so there is an obvious need for greater preventative measures that limit damage in the first place. As an insurer, there is also an obvious incentive to limit the number of claims, which can be done by helping customers prepare and protect their homes and assets against adverse weather. One way to do this is to attempt to change people’s behaviour, as NRMA has often endeavoured to do – another is to directly influence infrastructure by delivering affordable, future-proof solutions such as the One House.
Crisis mode / We all know the risks presented by the climate crisis but for many Australians, those risks are a reality. In 2020, more than 134,000 Australian homes were damaged by extreme weather. For this reason, footage of wild storms and fires are not enough to ignite behaviour change; the campaign creative needed a shock factor. To achieve this, Suncorp has Australian families stand behind an observation window as a One House prototype is subjected to fire, water and wind, and a voiceover describes Australia’s relationship with extreme weather and reiterates the need for more resilient homes. The contrast between the stillness and warmth on one side of the window and the violence and wreckage on the other is striking and attention-grabbing – and a clear departure from category norms. There’s no bumbling fool dropping his keys and phone down a drain, this campaign gets to the heart of what families value: home. As well as pulling at viewers’ heartstrings, the One House campaign does a good job of positioning Suncorp as an innovator in the category. Not only is the brand warning its customers to prepare for the future, it’s also designed a real-life home that could protect them. The message drives positive brand associations and boils down to this: things aren’t going to get any less dangerous, but Suncorp has the solutions (and policies) to keep you, your family and your home safer in the future.
