In a stormy insurance market, AAA found a way to stand out
An ad campaign for home & auto insurance has a serious impact in the Florida market.
Creative
Marketing
Research
Strategy
The Challenge
Awareness. Awareness. Awareness.
Awareness for AAA insurance—especially home insurance—was low, even among AAA members. AAA needed to get the attention of both current and new customers, but it’s difficult to stand out when every insurance commercial is about bundling—and other insurers have massive advertising budgets. We were asked to develop a singular message and impactful campaign that could cut through the clutter.
The Insight
In times of crises, AAA is a name people trust.
With an insurance crisis in Florida due to increased weather-related losses, rising premiums and insurers fleeing the state, Floridians were desperate to find an insurance brand who they could trust would be there when things went wrong. For years, AAA has been one of America’s most trusted brands based on member benefits, like Roadside Assistance. We now needed to translate that brand value into insurance.
The Work
The proof was in the concept testing.
This was an extraordinarily competitive and complicated market, so we knew the creative had to strike the right chord. Based on our new positioning—“AAA is the insurer that’s serious about protecting its members, offering serious coverage and serious savings.”— we developed a range of concepts, ranging from super serious to seriously funny. We then did extensive concept testing to determine which execution would break through. The concept testing showed that members and non-members were pleasantly surprised by the lighter tone of the campaign from a brand they perceived as a bit boring.
Omni-Channel Campaign
Implementing a consistent, impactful message across multiple touchpoints was critical for AAA – helping them both get noticed while competing against bigger spending brands and stand apart from the smaller discount companies.
Two 30-second TV commercials
Four 30-second radio commercials
Multiple OOH billboards
Display and social advertising
Emails
Paid search advertising
Campaign landing page
Agent and in-branch collateral
AAA Living magazine covers
The Results
The “Seriously” campaign launched in Florida in October 2021. After three months, the results were so positive that AAA is now planning to bring a similar strategy to 14 more states.
Dropping Some Data year One Numbers
12.5%
above planned revenue for AAA Florida's insurance by end of year
100%
increase in awareness for AAA among non-members through the span of the campaign—substantially more than the competition
100%
increase in website visits
55%
increase in contact center and field leads in November/December—a period when leads typically drop for insurance companies
54%
increase in quote starts
31 -point gain
in shopping consideration by non-members—by far the largest of the 10 companies tracked
17 -point gain
in awareness for home and auto products among non-members—far more than the other nine major competitors tracked
