The Campaign

Enter Captain Risky. He’s a larger-than-life character who embodies all the real- life risk that Budget Direct won’t insure, to save regular people money. And, because he’s NOT our brand, he can do the things that insurance companies normally don’t. Like blow things up. Captain Risky allows us to communicate a serious message – we don’t insure high-risk to keep prices low – in a hilarious and memorable way.

Creative Execution

This campaign blitzed all the usual mainstream channels. The launch spot was the most watched YouTube ad at the start of 2015. But it also had something extra. Something that money alone cannot buy. People loved Captain Risky. They welcomed this anti-hero into their hearts, their homes and their Facebook feeds. It meant that Captain Risky could pull off the biggest stunt of all – jumping from ‘advertising world’ into the real world. His catchphrase, “Kick it ‘n’ rip it” quickly became part of the Aussie vernacular and his character part of cultural landscape. He appeared on I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here, popped up on Centre Court at a live tennis tournament, walked the red carpet and brightened the day of sick kids in hospital.

'Kick it n rip it!’ became the Aussie catchphrase of 2015. And Captain Risky became a character that people really loved. It was the most watched ad on YouTube for the first quarter of 2015. 6 MILLION + YOUTUBE VIEWS 50,000 + FACEBOOK FANS UNPROMPTED AWARENESS UP 25.8% BRAND TRUST UP 41.6%

This campaign used an incredible level of integration, highly relevant for Integrated Spikes. It unfolded across TV and other mainstream channels. The launch spot was the most watched ad on YouTube. But Captain Risky jumped beyond traditional advertising. First it was Reality TV. Then Virtual Reality. Then actual reality. He appeared at the tennis, walked the red carpet and brightened the day of sick kids in hospital. And, just when you thought he couldn’t get any bigger, we made him smaller – the Captain Risky Action Figure.

We discovered an interesting fact. The reason that Budget Direct are cheaper is because they won’t insure bad drivers, high performance cars and other types of high risk. After all, high risk costs more to insure – and the extra cost of this, drives up premiums for everyone else. By simply saying “no” to a few high-risk customers, Budget Direct can offer affordable insurance to the vast majority of customers - people like you and me. We needed to stop saying we were cheap and start explaining why we were cheap. We needed to start talking about the people we DON’T insure.