Michael Milardo, creative director at Noise Digital, was waiting to unveil a presentation to client Canadian Direct Insurance when its chairman walked by and asked why they couldn’t just say the company saved people money instead of wrecking cash with flame throwers, chainsaws and graters (i.e. the concept of the last campaign).
The idea became the basis of three television ads that launched this month in a campaign called “Say yes to savings.”
“Waiting Room” has actors playing advertising staffers and Canadian Direct’s chairman and sends up the ad industry tendency to put the creative before the strategy.
CDI Waiting Room from Noise Digital on Vimeo.
“When I first came [to Noise], I was pitching things that I thought were funny without really understanding the business objectives,” said Milardo, who has also worked at Rethink and TBWA\Vancouver. “I was having fun with this one.”
The strategy behind last year’s campaign was to show that not buying insurance with Canadian Direct was the same as destroying cash with dangerous implements.
“We were looking to build on the 2011 campaign’s success, but also cut through an increasingly cluttered marketplace with the simple message that Canadian Direct could save people money,” said Trisha Tyrell, senior manager, business development. “We loved how Noise could laugh at itself while still delivering on the brief.”
Milardo said he’d like to develop the bumbling ad agency concept further. “We felt it reached their objective of a savings-oriented message. The audience is more media savvy than ever, and it felt like the right time to do something like this.”
Canadian Direct’s campaign targets well-educated, high income-earning 35 to 55-year-olds.
