Belairdirect has kicked off the year with an ad campaign that falls within what many customers have likely come to expect from the brand: a businessman in knight’s attire offering good deals on insurance products in a playful, humorous context.

Cast as an “Insure-vention,” the campaign’s main 60-second commercial shows family members and friends confronting – or rather, holding an intervention for – one of their own, urging that he switch to Belairdirect and combine his home and car insurance so that he may save up to 20%. He’s been overpaying for insurance, they argue, which has prevented him from having extra money to spend on take-out and date nights.

Shorter, 15-second spots show the man’s wife, son and friend individually making their cases for why he should switch providers.

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Sid Lee Toronto led creative on the campaign, which launched this week and runs until March 25 on television, digital and radio. PHD Montreal is on media with National on PR.

Looking back to 2017, Humberto Valencia, Belairdirect’s director of marketing and digital platforms, says the brand was “not in the territory that we usually want to be and that we usually enjoy being, in terms of having a more humorous approach, a more audacious approach, while remaining tasteful.” He says Belairdirect wanted to start 2018 by returning to a position he “strongly believe[s] is going to be more appealing to the consumer” and will lead to better results for the company.

Last year’s campaign saw the knight visit an airport to speak with real people about one of their biggest category complaints: brands’ tendency not to forgive customers for a first accident or issue with their home. In 2016, the knight was sent back to the Middle Ages to explain how he protects his “horse” with Belairdirect car insurance.  That year the brand also tested “Roadside Stories,” which put people’s real-life driving experiences into perspective.

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Valencia says pricing remains a big concern for consumers in the insurance category, because “people don’t like paying much for home and car insurance – regardless of age.” However, looking ahead to the rest of the year, he says consumers can expect Belairdirect brand campaigns that explore other sides of its business.

“We want to tell people that we’re not just about pricing,” he says. “Yes, we have good pricing – we can be interesting to a lot of people in terms of pricing. But you will see over the year that there are other reasons that you should be in business with us.”

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