Budget Direct extends Zeek and Zia campaign with latest instalment via Liquid Animation
Budget Direct is continuing its brand evolution in its latest instalment featuring out of this world characters, Zeek and Zia via Liquid Animation.
The new campaign has got people talking, one day they’re watching Michael and Michelle in the shower, the next they’ve been replaced by a pair of aliens.
Says Jonathan Kerr, director marketing and digital, Budget Direct: “We’ve been inundated with questions about Zeek and Zia, where are they from, why are they here, have the previous characters been abducted by our aliens?”
Well those questions will start to be answered with the launch of the next two TVC’s in the campaign. The first goes to air on Thursday 5th September, quickly followed with another instalment from Monday 9th September.
According to social media monitoring system Radian6 (see table below), Budget Direct was the most talked about brand, when compared to others in the insurance market that also launched new TV Ads during the same period as Zeek and Zia’s arrival.
Says Kerr: “We’ve had just about every reaction imaginable. People angry that we copied our own advert, kids telling us they love Zeek and Zia and singing our famous song, we’ve even had Hamish and Andy trying to figure out what we are up to on their radio show.
“So far in terms of cut through and the sheer weight of brand mentions, compared to our competitors who launched new TV ads at the same time, we’re really excited about how the new campaign has started.”
Once again Budget Direct has used the creative experience of Liquid Animation to bring Zeek and Zia to life.
The TVC introduces a new character, ‘Dave’, Zeek and Zia’s next door neighbour. The audience starts to learn more about Zeek, and gets a first glimpse of his alien abilities. In the 30 second TVC we find out why Zeek selected Budget Direct for his car insurance, as his neighbour Dave deals with a nasty price hike from his current insurer. The third advert, again a 30 second TVC, shows just how smart Zeek and Zia are, while also pointing out what a smart choice Budget Direct is for home and contents insurance.
The campaign will feature not just TVC’s but also continuing large format outdoor, YouTube, online display, PPC and other tactical activity.
Zeek and Zia’s Facebook presence has been another pleasant surprise for Budget Direct. Both already have thousands of fans with extraordinarily high levels of engagement.
“We’re delighted with what the new campaign has done so far, the talkability is huge and people are really investigating why these smart aliens think Budget Direct is such a smart choice for insurance” says Mr Kerr.
Liquid Animation – Mike Viner, Director; Geoff Viner, Producer; Damon Escott, Live Action Director; Georgie Uppington, Producer.
Hulsbosch – Hans Hulsbosch, Executive Creative Director.
Budget Direct – Marketing & Digital Department.
10 Comments
It’s certainly being talked about. No doubt about that.
Really don’t like these ads – bring back the French lady!
There’s getting talked about and there’s getting talked about. Personally, I can see no connection to the brand, in fact it alienates me.
Does that alien have an Irish accent?
Augh! These were rubbish before and extra rubbish now. This is the sort of thing that makes people hate our profession.
Come on! This is fucking shite! An look at this PR release! It’s advertising at its worst, a cliche and crap at that too. Hulsbosch, you are a giant of branding, but please, stick to your knitting!
Please, don’t insult the animation industry with crap like this. If you’re going to have an animated character, do it right.
Please, don’t insult the animation industry with crap like this. If you’re going to have an animated character, do it right.
Ariel Castro got talked about this week, it doesn’t mean he’s popular. Same goes for this sort of crap on our TV. Agree with above, this just gives a bad name to anyone working in the industry whether it be creative or animation.
why on earth did they take the original budget direct add of the market. I thought it was very clever and actually introduced me to budget insurance . The latest add seems to be designed and directed to children. I suppose it is the narrow minded people of this world that make the decisions.