NRMA Insurance celebrates everyday Aussie moments in latest campaign via The Monkeys
NRMA Insurance has unveiled a new campaign that celebrates everyday Australian moments of help in its second piece of work created in partnership with The Monkeys.
The campaign’s 60-second film shows the innate willingness of all Australians to help, told against the musical backdrop of the iconic Hunters and Collector’s song ‘Throw Your Arms Around Me’ re-recorded by singer-songwriter Ayla.
The film captures the essence of the new brand positioning ‘Help is who we are’, which celebrates the everyday Australians who pitch in and help each other. The campaign recognises the role NRMA Insurance and its partners such as the State Emergency Services play in helping Australians recover after a major weather event.
IAG chief marketing officer, Brent Smart said the campaign signals a return to the brand’s iconic heritage as a beacon of help, and showcases its longstanding commitment to helping Australians.
Says Smart: “For almost 100 years, NRMA Insurance has been by our customers’ side helping them get back on their feet when things go wrong. This campaign celebrates our brand roots and sets the tone for the type of human storytelling we are returning to.
“Australians have always helped each other, it’s who we are. We want to pay tribute to our brand history and show how powerful the Australian spirit of help can be in the face of adversity.”
Says Scott Nowell, co-founder and group chief creative officer, The Monkeys: “While Aussies like to think of themselves as tough characters, this campaign celebrates our commitment to helping each other. From tiny moments to major events, we are recognising the role that help – and NRMA Insurance – has played in defining our national identity.”
The film was directed by TWiN at The Sweetshop and consists of 90, 60 and 15-sec spots. The campaign goes live on Friday 16 March across out of home, broadcast, cinema, customer and social media channels.
Client: IAG
Brand: NRMA Insurance
Chief Marketing Officer: Brent Smart
NRMA Marketing Director: Sally Kiernan
Creative Lead: Elizabeth Stokes
Marketing Lead: Erin Bennett
Creative Agency: The Monkeys
Co-founder & Group Chief Creative Officer: Scott Nowell
Co-founder & Group CEO: Mark Green
Partner & Group Strategy Director: Fabio Buresti
Managing Director: Matthew Michael
Creative Director: Jake Rusznyak
Creative Director: Dennis Koutoulogenis
Senior Copywriter: Tim Pashen
Senior Art Director: Scott Zuliani
Head of Production: Thea Carone
Senior Broadcast Producer: Jade Rodriguez
Strategic Planner: Charlotte Marshall
Group Content Director: Humphrey Taylor
Senior Content Director: Katie Wong-Hee
Senior Content Manager: Fizzy Keeble
Content Executive: Sophie Finckh
Production Manager: Ali Dent
Production Company: The Sweetshop
Director: TW!N
Executive Producer: Edward Pontifex & Loren Bradley
Producer: Allison Lockwood
DOP: Lachlan Milne
Editor: The Butchery
Grade: Ben Eagleton @ Be Colour
Post Production: BlockHead
Music: Alya cover of Hunters & Collectors
Sound Design: Nylon
86 Comments
*Sits back and waits for all the bitter staff who used to work on NRMA to comment*
Nice work Monkeys đ
I live for the historical Aussie moments in the ad and how well they’ve been recreated. Holy shit guys. F&cking awesome.
I live for the historical Aussie moments in the ad and how well they’ve been recreated. Holy shit guys. F&cking awesome.
This brand has flip-flopped so many times over the past decade that it stands for absolutely zero.
“H.E.L.P”?
“The Confidence guy”?
“NRMADE Better”?
“Experience the Difference”?
This song is creepy af.
”I will come for you at night time”. Um I’m scared there will be someone at my window now
“I will raise you from your sleep”. Demonic exorcist
sorry to yuk your yum guys
It scares me soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo much
sorry
Welcome Michael Hutchence, Iâve been expecting you.
If you have nothing to say, sing it.
Hello âStill Trueâ, glad to have you onboard.
My toes have curled so far back, they are embedded in my heels.
Bravo Monkeys. This reminds me of all the good things to celebrate about
Being Australian… unlike the tall poppies slayers who like to get on this blog
And knock everything down.
I love this so much. It’s exactly why I come to work every day – to help people. I am so happy that our external advertising is starting to match our internal culture again. It’s really motivating.
Hey Popcorn – the song was by Hunters and Collectors.
NRMA staff member just casually checking out the comments on CB?
Yeah kinda the thing you do at the Warringah Mall office on a quiet Friday afternoon.
Seriously Monkeys you are shameless.
I dont think Ive seen anything more cringe worthy in several years. Up its own ass to an extro degree.
I love this work. Well done Monkey’s and well done NRMA team and Brent.
‘Help is what we do’. State Insurance. Colenso. Brent Smart.
‘You’ve come a long way, baby’.
That whispered “around me” at the end made me cringe so hard I’m now a single-cell lifeform.
Actually I work in claims and this came up on my newsfeed but thanks I am glad I made you “laugh out loud” – sounds like you need to.
Here’s how it’s done properly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7YwEWw98_Q
Hey NRMA staffer beget back to work..you have claims to reject slack arse.
Just asking: is it NRMA Insurance that’s actually been around for 100 years? (Or 75 for that matter in the excellent One from The Archives?) Or is it a conflated with the long-standing Road Service heritage? Of interest is the enduring and wonderful H.E.L.P. strategy devised by Saatchi’s for Road Service, followed by S.A.V.E. when launching NRMA Insurance/ Superannuation products.
The Monkeys for worst use of an existing song in a TVC.
Throw Your Arms Around Me is a very sensual song. The line “I will kiss you in four places” is overtly sexual. Having the mum sing those lines while looking at her daughter was stupid. Like, really stupid and just wrong. With a credits list that long, I can’t believe no-one pointed that out.
And then the whispered “Throw your arms around me” by the girl at the end was just…weird.
Ive always wondered about those 4 places. now i feel odd.
Seriously, this is so cheesy, corny, and predictable, it’s wallpaper with no insight. You help people…and…
A laughably bad cringe fest. Feel sorry for the koala. Poor little guy had no say in the matter. Unfair.
This comments section makes me think its time to kill Campaign Grief anonymity. Our industry is full of fuckwits.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7Y2fJ2KzbQ
That whispered “around me” at the end made me cringe so hard I’m now a single-cell lifeform.
Always telling when a director’s cut is out there.By the way i am on the same page.It’s much better.Monkeys hear no ..opinion?
Great work by all, especially the Directors.
Who did that original TVC?Thought it was beautifully crafted and better than a whole lot of stuff out there today including the new version of it.Director?Cinematographer?
Anybody help?
To be fair you were probably already a single-celled lifeform.
Melanie Bridges directed that Nrma spot from the archives.It was beatifully crafted and has stood the test of time.It is also genuinely Michael Hutchence singing his own song not some lame cover version attempting to be contemporary.Shit I really miss the passion for craft.But at least Friday night is still Friday night.I’m off to The Clock!
yours was just as shit
I canât believe anyone is defending this.
Especially when you have a creepy volunteer firefighter saying he will âsqueeze the life right from youâ to a koala, and a Mum saying she will kiss her daughter in four places.
You twats have got to stop drinking your monkey kool aid, your ads get slammed for very valid reasons.
It’s work like this that gifted Ad News Agency of the year to CHE.
musical montages just don’t cut it if you are positioning yourself as Australia’s hottest creative shop.Qantas,Telstra and now this second peice of dross for NRMA.
Make all the excuses you like it’s just not good enough.
Don’t forget IGA which is worse than dross.
@ Director’s Cut – which is the “directors cut?” One is just longer than the other with a few more shots that only draws out the pain of watching it. They are both posted by the client and they are both awful.
An appalling use of a beautiful love song.Terrible arrangement and no relevance to the narrative. How could you allow this to happen? And for all things, an insurance company.
Fucking awful
Sucks the farts out of dead seagulls.
And not in a good way.
I guess the fence jump of Brent Smart is now complete.
Thanks for butchering one of my favourite songs.
Still not convincing me to pay high NRMA premiums.
Did I just hear the fire fighter say he was going to “squeeze the life” out of that Koala? Think we better get onto Wires…
Australia’s koala community demand advertising to cease and desist the escalating hate speech against our community.
There is an interesting back story to this TVC.The original was written in 2002 by the gorgeous Ben Welsh then an up and coming copywriter.The suit who sold the script was a loveable but wildly ambitious GAD called Brent Smart.Yes the self same.Which all leads me to wonder if the Monkeys were given a very prescriptive brief from Brent.If he did they either ignored him or they just don’t have creatives who can write with Ben’s eloquence and humanity,or art directors with the cinematic craft skills of the now retired Allen Morden.
This is a nice idea clumsily executed. Why oh why did you get the talent to sing a long -it’s so mawkish. The performance is explicit enough. It’s a strange interpretation of this song too, it’s not about love, it’s about the lust of a one night stand. Still a great song.
NO MORE ADS WITH PEOPLE SAYING SONG LYRICS
Part 4 – Insurance adds trying to own everything.
@X121USA Not sure how much writing is required for a TVC where all the dialogue is taken from the song used in the ad.
No wonder the kids don’t want to work in advertising anymore. How are we going to fund AWARD without their fees each year?
Great performance by the koala, in his acting debut. Totally believable. It’s so good to see new, authentic faces in film.
Why would anyone think âsqueezing the life right fromâ an Aussie icon was a good idea? Any Monkeys care to answer that one?
Hi Q23.Think that was the point the person was trying to make.Why didn’t someone just write it rather than sing it.ie write it as well as the old one was written.
Nah…IAG bought the book.. itâs not actually NRMA at all
Hey Smartie what kind of skipper are you going to be…a one season Whitnall or a Sticks leading by example for a decade.It’s now half time for you mate,so do what what the big fella woulda done-kick those creative wankers at the Monkeys Right up the clacker and if that doesn’t work bench the bastards.At the end of the season trade ’em.
If you put it on mute.
Horrible ad. Worst song to use, do they not realise the song is about unrequited or rejected love, stalking and âsqueezing the life out of youâ literally. Hate the version of the song, it is just woeful. At least they should have used the original even though it has the wrong meaning.
Sorry but an absolute turn off and an ad I donât want to watch nor listen to. You donât remember NRMA, you remember how awful the ad is.
NRMA the musical. Love the part where theyâre lifting up the train while singing. This ad makes me dry reach.
After hearing this rediculous piece of music, I have no respect for NRMA or channell 9 that continue to play the garbage
The song is about a one night stand. Is that the insurance message? Screwed & see ya never.
how could they use this song. it is a song about living in the moment and having sex. you do not know what tomorrow may bring so do not waste the chance. ‘so shed your skin and lets get started’ is rather obvious in its meaning, as is ‘I will kiss you in four places’ can’t wit until I need NRMA roadside service again.
This is the worst excuse for an ad ever. This song is about loving someone in the moment and there is a firefighter squeezing the life out of a koala? What a terrible decision. Maybe when choosing songs to put an ad to, consult someone from the era the song came out in. I want to vomit every time this comes on. And I have worked in advertising. Sigh.
Who put the song forward? Wrong on so many levels. I was gobsmacked when I first saw the ad, and shake my head in disbelief every time itâs on. Execution great … but idea dreadful.
When I first saw this ad, I wrote to NRMA online (with no reply). I then happened to come actoss this webpage. I mentioned to nrma how the H&C song is about the enjoyment of a one night stand! Therefore, the song is totally inappropriate for this ad. The original song is amazing. Yet this ad not only destroys the original with a terrible remake but it has been disgracefully used in the wrong context – this ad is therefore quite repulsive – to see the sensual lyrics used when telling a child “I will kiss you in four places” or look at a war veteran saying “I will never forget it” and the child at the end saying “put your arms around me” while looking directly into the camera is creepy; and the same thing with the teenage girl saying “as I go running…your street” – the whole thing is just so wrong. For those of us who know the meaning of the song can’t watch this ad without knowing the lyrics are unrelated to the intended meaning of the ad ie helping each other. Looking at an old ad using the weblink from one feedback (using INXS) just shows the comparison of a well executed ad where the music’s lyrics can still be open enough and flexible in its meaning to be appropriate and inspiring (I know the INXS song has more depth in its lyrics than merely “by your side” but It can still engage a positive response for the viewer). It also is such a great song to engage the viewer and makes the viewer reflect too as the lyrics have great deprh to them. I saw the current ad again on big screen at the cinema today and felt sick watching it. It is so hard seeing the actors sing along to lyrics that are incorrectly used for this ad and that they also destroy a really amazing and beautiful song by H@C. Never has an ad made me feel so disgusted in a marketing team’s complete incompetence with its lack of research and misuse of a song. I am glad others have picked up on the fact that the song is inappropriate for this ad – I still remember when the song first came out and appreciating its sensuality in recognising how the one night stand can still be a spontaneous and respectful experience and the song is not tacky or crass. Funnily enough, I noticed that the wording from one feedback seemed to be taken from my exact wording I sent to the nrma online feedback form. I recognise it. Very odd but so be it. I am just glad others have noticed how bad this ad is. I don’t usually feel compelled to write in about things but this ad is quite repulsive to watch. Get a new marketing team nrma. It was bad enough your previous ads are also based on using visuals so unrelated to the topic of insurance or road side assistance and they convey nrma as being so up themselves eg you ridicule the overweight in several ads where weight is used as a comic feature but not relevant eg making fun of the fat possum who could not climb up the side of the roof or the man who has to pick up the person who takes his car (making out he is just clueless in realising he is part of a joke by the oter guy taking the car around the block!). Your ads are uninspiring and this last one really exemplifies how you have really lost the plot!!! I actually feel it is time to move to another insurance/roadside company after their latest ad is so bad. There are so many other songs you could have used – where on earth did you think this was the one to use! How to destroy a great song and the essence of a marketing campaign in one go!
Great ad. Genuinely made me choke up when I saw it on TV.
Personally I don’t think it matters what the original words of the song mean. The beauty of music is that it takes on different meaning for different people.
Look at Kendrick’s Lamar’s Swimming Pools. Actually a track about the dangers of alcoholism, but regularly used as an anthem for a drinking session.
Wow. I can not sit through this disgraceful add. What four places are NRMA kissing.??? Iâm glad Netflix doesnât run any adds as Iâve now quit commercial tv for good. Worst add ever!!!
I canât stand this ad! It makes me cringe every time
This is the BEST commercial ever made. Itâs not creepy at all.
Great Hunters song with only one line of relevance for the NRMA ‘I will squeeze the life (right) out of you”.
Iâm not usually one to comment but this commercial has spurred me on.
Great song – incredibly poor choice – Iâm one of the cringers and I donât normally pay any attention to ads – so maybe itâs working for you NRMA
I can’t believe it. Another Aussie pub classic (and yes, saw H&C’s many times, before you tattoo-ed, bearded folk were born) utterly butchered in the name of the NRMA.
This is the sort of shit that made me leave the ad industry, join the Army and do some real, meaningful work.
A fucking shambles.
I often watch ads and wonder how some people in marketing are paid for what they do, let alone the ludicrous amounts they often get.
Firstly, this song is hardly wholesome. And in what can only be an intentional joke that they thought would remain âinsideâ, they time the firefighter gazing down at the koala singing, âI will squeeze the life right from youâ.
I refuse to believe this was accidental. How could no one associated with the campaign have picked that up?
I often watch ads and wonder how some people in marketing are paid for what they do, let alone the ludicrous amounts they often get.
Firstly, this song is hardly wholesome. And in what can only be an intentional joke that they thought would remain âinsideâ, they time the firefighter gazing down at the koala singing, âI will squeeze the life right from youâ.
I refuse to believe this was accidental. How could no one associated with the campaign have picked that up?
Completely inappropriate song – what the hell were they all thinking??? Itâs about SEX for gods sake. Sooo wrong in so many ways. Downright embarrasing
what a load of ethnocentric rubbish this ad is… typical ‘aussie’ jingoism. As if Australians are the only helpful and sportsmanlike people in the world.. The ad was released at the same time that the Australian cricket side was exposed for being cheat made it even more farcical. When the hell will us Australians get over ourselves?
What are the lyrics. One part sounds like { I shall breathe life from you }. I wouldn’t like that. But I still don’t know what is said, even though it’s been heard so many many times.
Another fail. You pay Monkeys, you get peanuts.
Next time someone is drowning burning or under a train don’t call 000 call the NRMA! They will send you a guy to flog you a battery for 500 bucks.
NRMA have a history of ad advertising. If it’s not the Broncos, it’s kissing the public in 4 places.
Using firefighters and koalas to pull on the heartstrings of gullible consumers.
Bad advertising never does it for me.
Now we see the victim of a rail disaster singing softly to his rescuer…
‘ put your arms around me ‘ after being dragged from under the carriage.
Who approved this stuff?
Absolute rubbish!
Very ordinary.
The idea is old and lame.The music trying too hard to be cool ( the dog wails when he hears it). The production looks cheap. Talent unconvincing.
The direction had to be amazing for it to work. Itâs not; particularly when itâs placed in next to high quality US promo footage of a new series that focuses on disasters.
I am a member of the NRMA.
So get a new Marketing Director and FIRE the agency.
This is so depressing and doing nothing for you.
Owwwwwwww!đ
Now itâs an animated bunny.
Gone from unbelievable to stupid…
TERRIBLE AD! I MEAN, KISS U IN 4 PLACES????? When the MUM is looking at HER DAUGHTER! AND SQUEEZE THE LIFE RIGHT OUT OF U With the koala, and i will come 4 u @ night time, i will wake u from ur sleep!
HOW CREEPY AND WRONG!
STUFF U, NRMA