Budget Direct’s latest spot via 303 MullenLowe shows its service offering is anything but ‘risky’
The latest Captain Risky installment from 303 MullenLowe shines a light on Budget Direct’s outstanding product and service features, employees and customers – and uses Captain Risky to show what can go wrong when you’re not a Budget Direct customer.
Says Jonathan Kerr, director, marketing and digital at Budget Direct: “Yes, Captain Risky is entertaining and funny, he’s a risk-taker and a daredevil, but that’s not the kind of life most Australians aspire to. This new part of our campaign shows just what it’s like to be a Budget Direct customer, which as you’ll see is in stark contrast to Captain Risky, who we will never insure.”
The new platform allows Budget Direct to further showcase the depth and quality of customer service provided to savvy customers.
The first TVC in the campaign shows a Budget Direct customer benefitting from high quality facilities and a Lifetime Guarantee on all authorised car repairs. This is juxtaposed against Budget Direct’s famous non-customer Captain 
Risky, who has to rely on his amateur pit stop crew to deliver vital repairs at his moment of need.
Overall, the campaign aims to show that customers “Get More with Budget Direct”.
Says Richard Morgan, executive creative director at 303 MullenLowe: “We wanted to depict normal Budget Direct customers in their ‘insurance moment of truth’, and compare them directly to Captain Risky to show how much better off they are. Not only do Budget Direct customers typically pay less for their insurance, but the quality of the service they receive is equal, and sometimes better than many of Budget Direct’s competitors.”
‘Pit Stop’ airs on Sunday night, September 4th, with more instalments to follow across television, cinema, digital and social channels.
Client: Budget Direct
Director, Marketing & Digital: Jonathan Kerr
General Manager – Brand and Media Marketing: Warren Marsh
Marketing Manager- New Customer Acquisition: Catherine Harty
Agency: 303 MullenLowe Sydney
ECD: Richard Morgan
Head of Copy: Sean Larkin
Head of Art: Adam Whitehead
Agency Producer: Sean Ascroft
Head of Business Management: Tony Dunseath
Business Director: James Lammert
Production Company: Goodoil Films
Director: Hamish Rothwell
Executive Producer: Sam Long
Producer: Andrew McLean
DOP: Crighton Bone
VFX: ALT.VFX
Editor: Simon Price – ARC EDIT
Sound Engineer: Barry Stewart, Sound Reservoir
12 Comments
So rare to see a campaign that runs longer than 3 months. Captain Risky thank you.
I love this.
‘Research came back that one idiot in a focus group associated ‘Captain Risky’ with ‘Budget Direct’ being a risky choice. So we dumbed the fuck out of this campaign to make sure that Sean, the fat research bloke, who was really there for the tea and biscuits, got our ad.
And now, thanks to Sean the fat research bloke, our ads are way dumber and stupider than before. But Sean gets it. And that’s the main thing.
CLIENT: Yes, Captain Risky is fun, but not everyone gets that his behaviour is NOT something we approve of or encourage, so let’s hedge our bets and dilute the brand property we’ve invested so much money in (after our last change of direction from the earlier, memorable ‘French pronunciation idea’) by adding an extra layer of communication…something about ‘Quality of Repairs’ so we get taken more seriously. After all, you must understand that as an insurance company we’re not into risk.
AGENCY: (SIGH) …(MUMBLE) Whatever.
So many angry jealous minions
How do you talk about product stuff the client believes is important (and maybe they are right) in a campaign that has a very single-minded, very different strategy?
One way is to just shoehorn it in and hope no-one notices your ads make even less sense than they did.
I’m somewhat flabbergasted that no-one at the agency or client seems to have considered that their shiny and very expensive campaign might have to actually get down and dirty.
I wouldn’t be blaming the creative idea though. I’m not a massive fan, but at least it tries.
The problem is that the strategy and proposition are nonsense, and the creative directly reflects this nonsense.
Obviously sales were struggling or they wouldn’t have changed tack. Budgets seem to be shrinking as well…
I like it. Funny so well done.
Still better than the Irish aliens from the previous campaign.
I get it, my kids get it, my mum gets it. This campaign has been from strength to strength. Bastards
Captain Risky needs his own series.
Watch out, the animated aliens might get another run if this trend continues