AAA helps people save more so they can do more of what they love
Challenge
AAA needed a partner to create a new 3-year TV campaign for their auto insurance business. Their direct response TV spots were 8 years old and competitors had gained significant market share in that time.
Solution
We started by asking the question, who is AAA? Our answer: AAA helps people save more so they can do more of what they love. Then, we focused on the savings message. But everyone promises big savings. So our concept Saving You went further, with members talking about what they did with their money, making our stories interesting, relatable, and trustworthy. We culled through a list of 600 members to find the most compelling stories. Members who could speak to other membership benefits beyond insurance so that AAA could build library assets for promotion across business lines (Membership/Roadside Assistance, discounts, travel, etc.). We created a plan to build assets for use across the entire trans-media landscape, with custom executions for TV, digital, social, radio, and print to maximize reach and spend. We cast a diverse group of relatable and aspirational members, with varied interests—from a family that loves camping, to a hang gliding couple, to a fly fisherman and an amateur wrestling announcer. We crafted our stories around the ask (DR TV :60s) and expanded it to include brand response, and brand so we could dial up or down the DR message at any point during the campaign. With a budget in hand and creative that should be fresh for 3 years, we recommended doing 16 member stories, captured in a modular way so that we could change in post and mix/match stories easily during the campaign. PRE-PRODUCTION With approvals on members and mood boards, we moved into Skype interviews so that our director could dig into each story and begin to establish a trust and working relationship with the members. Each story was scripted, storyboarded and approved as a direct response :60, a brand response :60 and a brand :60 well in advance so that everyone was on the same page early on. We deconstructed each approved script into questions that would elicit organic responses. And we added questions around the other features and benefits of AAA membership, as well, for future content. The production team went to work, aligning everyone’s schedules for a 37-day multi-state shoot. PRODUCTION We shot 16 member stories across Southern California and Texas. We allocated 2 shoot days for each story to capture testimonials, b-roll, and stills. We also carved out shoot days to capture additional b-roll of tow trucks, AAA agents, and branches. 37 nearly consecutive shoot days later, we had 32TB of video content and about 1,000 images per story. From there, we developed AAA’s first campaign style guide, a 70-page document that could be shared by all agencies that might be creating content or participating in the media strategy/buying. POST-PRODUCTION The first spots were due within weeks of our final shoot day. Fortunately, our editorial team was on it from shoot day 1, organizing the footage and the sound bites by pre-determined silos for easy access during the entire campaign. We set up a Wiredrive account for AAA so they could easily see and share all of the campaign assets by searchable tags. We’ll be in post for the next 2.5 years. Currently, we’re working on two more DR :60s, print for their magazines, instore displays, and supporting digital banners.
Results
As of June 2018, two DR spots are running in CA and TX. The average CPL has decreased by 40%. While the results are early, AAA is thrilled with the ROI. The brand persona we created has changed the way they see the brand. Consequently, we’re now in pre-production on a new AAA membership infomercial to replace their current one with the same look/feel we established for the Saving You campaign. Furthermore, we were selected as the creative/production team for their new 3-year distracted driving campaign. Our concept Don’t Drive Intexticated was released across the US on TV in March 2018:
Want fresh marketing stories in your inbox?
Get the weekly email that makes you a marketing genius.
Stay informed and inspired, for free.