NRMA Insurance and CHE Proximity create board game to learn about dangers of living in OZ
Australia is more dangerous than ever. Our seasons are becoming increasingly more volatile as the country faces higher risks of bushfires, storms and floods. So, this Christmas NRMA Insurance via CHE Proximity, is introducing something fun, in service of this more serious need – Help! The Game – an engaging way to start the conversation with families and help Aussies understand the importance of insurance.
The gameplay of HELP! The Game mirrors life. Players buy houses, boats, cars, pets and renovations. At every throw of the dice they can risk it all by adding to their wealth or protecting what they have with a giant dome – NRMA Insurance. The player least impacted by floods, fires, theft, snakes, storms, tornados, and sometimes, bin chickens, wins.
HELP! The Game is on sale at Kmart stores and available in ecommerce, with a portion of proceeds from each sale going towards supporting disaster relief and recovery for NRMA Insurance’s partner, Australian Red Cross.
Says Zara Curtis, director of content and customer engagement, NRMA Insurance: “We’re always looking at new and innovative ways to help Australians understand risk and the value of insurance. What better way to capture the attention of Australian families this Christmas than by creating something that helps bring insurance to life in a fun and engaging way.
“Interpreting the rules of a board game always creates debate around the table, so it’s exciting to be breaking category norms and consumer expectations with the launch of HELP! The Game. We’re excited to partner with Kmart this Christmas.”
Says Ant White, chief creative officer at CHE Proximity: “HELP! The Game is a fun way to talk about something no one wants to talk about – insurance. After the year that we’ve had, Christmas felt like the right time to give the country something that can help make them safer and also bring friends and family together.”
HELP! The Game launches via a series of films, OOH, social, digital, PR.
Over 30,000 games are available for purchase from Nov 8th, 2020 at helpthegame.com.au or in every Kmart store across NSW and QLD.
IAG
Brent Smart, CMO
Zara Curtis, Director of Content & Customer Engagement
Sally Kiernan, Director, Brand
Caroline Hugall, Group Brand Strategy Director
Luke Farrell, Director of Marketing Operations
Mahsa Merat, Creative & Innovation Specialist
Anna Jackson, Brand Strategy Lead
Sam McGown, Creative & Innovation Lead
& all of IAG Marketing Team
CHE Proximity
Ant White, Chief Creative Officer
Wesley Hawes Executive Creative Director – Syd
Ashley Wilding, Creative Director
Daniel Davison, Creative Director
Nico Smith, Senior Art Director
Mark Carbone, Senior Copywriter
Zac Pritchard, Senior Copywriter
Holly Alexander, Director, Strategic Production
Darren Cole, Head of Design
Reece Lawson, Digital Design Lead
Michael McGregor, Designer
David Halter, Chief Strategy Officer
Nick Andrews, Head of Strategy
Olivier Boulbain, Senior Technology Project Manager
Chris Howatson, Group CEO
Shane Holmes, Group Account Director
Tyson Mahon, Senior Account Director
Charles Todhunter, Senior Account Manager
Production Credits Collider
Murray Bell, Experience Director
Andrew van der Westhuyzen, Creative Director
Hugh Carrick-Allan, Technical Director
Mitch Brown, Senior Designer
Naomi Illand, Head of Studio Production
Rachael Ford-Davies, Managing Director
Brendan Keogh, Game Consultant
Julian Frost, Jacky Winter Character Concept Illustrations
Special T Card and Booklet Production
Ted Esdaile-Watts, Principal Tech Creators Character, Object & Dome Manufacturing
Film Production Heckler
Heckler Film Production & Post
Simon Rippingale Director
Benja Harney Paper Engineer
Bonnie Law Executive Producer
Johnny Greally Producer
Simon Higgins Director of Photography
VFX Supervisor Jamie Watson
Senior Editor Andrew Holmes
Colourist Olivier Fontenay
Brad Smith Senior Flame Artist
Rumble Music Sound Design, Audio Production
Mindshare Media Agency
Thinkerbell PR & Earned
57 Comments
Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.
Based on data we new that people were no longer looking at phones, playstations or experiences and were instead turning to branded board games sold at Kmart. That’s why we decided to invest in getting the NRMA name alongside other much loved board games like Medibank Operation and Commonwealth Bank Monopoly.
Coming to a Vinnies near you this Boxing Day
Is this… a little off? Tonally.
What you mean because they trivialized floods and bushfires in the wake of a horrendous natural disaster season to make a self-serving “award grabbing” piece of work?
Nah I think they nailed it tonally…
You would think given the year we’ve had perhaps Australians don’t need a board game to “understand the importance of insurance.” Begs the question…Why does this exist?
Do you think people are willing to cough up $25 for an advertisement?
Probably not a game anyone on the east coast of Australia would want to play any time soon.
Another scammy idea ay?
Coming soon to a case study near you
Doesn’t strike me as a game that’s fun for all the family.
Will struggle to get on anyones Christmas list.
An overreach from agency and client.
What a waste of money
I’ve been looking for the perfect present to tell my son I don’t love him. Sorted. Thank you, CHEP.
No need to hate. A clean simple idea that will hopefully educate people on insurance. It’s a boring ass category so well done on making it entertaining.
Well done to Collider for producing a board game and one that looks so nice. I have been told that it is a really fun board game to play. Great idea Chep. I will buy one for my kids for sure, far better to play this then fortnight!
I will reserve judgement until the stack-of-awards-winning case study is released.
Yes they did.
If you want to ‘play the game’ with an insurance company – always call a lawyer first!
I’m not sure I buy that this is a real solution but you gotta hand it to them for the craft in this. It looks pretty sweet to me. Would be good to see what’s inside
… Cannes.
CHE are an absolute powerhouse when it comes to making ideas that may as well go directly into award submissions. No consumer is going to see this. If I ask 1,000 people in January “who enjoyed a game of Help over the holidays?” 30 would think I’m into some kinky bedroom stuff and the other 970 would have no idea what I was talking about.
Award attempts over problem solving must be carved into the front desk or something
Something to play when the family’s gathered around the radio
Create an idea for easy award bait. Client not necessary.
Hold onto that idea until you find a suitable client.
Exploit a low budget brief and twist it towards your prepared idea.
Profit?
What was the insight CHEP? – kids love insurance and learning about policies.
What you get when the agency and the client are out of touch.
Hey kids look what Mummy bought you for Christmas. ‘Help’ the board game from a big boring insurance corporation.
But mum, what’s a board game?
Please! This is a marketing team and agency so desperate for awards they would do anything. Anything! Even try sell stuff to your kids! It’s embarrassing.
They don’t know their audience and the sad thing is i bet they really, really believe they do.
For both agency and client.
This is abysmal.
I’m not surprised CHE made this. I am surprised they made it with Brent Smart overseeing it. Personally I see the work Brent has done previously at agency and some of the NRMA work with Colenso and the monkeys as world standard emotional campaigns. This is just junk that should have never been signed off.
These films unfortunately don’t live up to the rest of the craft. Think about every other game, app or otherwise that draws you into the world of the game itself. Che again, film.
One day, CHEP will hit the mark. They are prolific.
But as this yet again demonstrates, they just can’t hit the heights. Must be really shitting them.
Is this a marketing oxymoron? CHED sold the insurance client something they didn’t need?
This might’ve actually been a good tonal fit for us.
We would have even had a better name too, like Lucky. And could have dialled-up the fun with hyperbolic situations, like in our ads.
But for NRMA?
Right idea, wrong brand.
(trying to be charitable here)
Scam advertising is the worst.
CHE is now all ex Marcel and is it any surprise thats the only work they TRY to put out now.
But its not even good work. Its just stuff only ad people care about.
Stop it.
This is awful work, to go with more awful work.
What are the dangers?
Think the naysayers are being a bit harsh here. Chep are one of the best agencies in Aus, they know what they’re doing. Adland might tear it down but the punters will eat it up. Don’t forget plenty of traditionalist ad guys thought the Boonie Doll was a bad idea but now look back with revisionist history as if they loved it all along (and even claim credit!)
Some heavy shade being throwing around in here! (some quite funny I admit)
The way I see it is a lot of you are shitting on it just because you feel the urge to.
It’s not like it won’t work to some degree will it. Will it be a xmas sensation? Nah, probs not. But it got made, to a high standard by the looks of it, people got paid. Jobs a goodun – onto the next opportunity. So what if they enter it in awards – everyone enters stuff to go into awards. The difference is these guys are actually good at winning them.
True. But awards don’t sell insurance policies. And neither do board games.
Who?
You’re kidding yourself if you think this is anything like Boonie. There’s plenty of branded board games out there, no one is going to look back on this in 10 years and see anything more than landfill
Show me the proof that “no one liked the Boony doll” next you’ll be saying no one ate off the magic salad plate.
What are the other branded board games? Show me
Making 30,000 boardgames doesn’t demonstrate a flash in the pan awards scam to me. That is real budget spent on a real Christmas campaign, finding a different way to stand out. Especially when all I’m watching on the blog this week is Santas and tinsel. Good on you for giving something different a go NRMA and CHEP.
big games in australia sell around 5000 a year
When the Boonie doll came out the comments were nothing like this. There was mostly love.
And more importantly real people out there knew about it. The trouble with this stuff is it goes on sometimes to win awards because award judges have also been trained to think this style of work is good, and many have no business brains, and that makes creatives and agencies in general look trivial and irrelevant to clients.
Time to put down the early 2000 award books.
So just to add to their anxiety about the world they live in, we want to make them play in it.
Stupid.
The top two when you ask google are
https://vimeo.com/267218871
https://www.amazon.com.au/Winning-Moves-Australia-Board-Game/dp/B07BQPQ62R/ref=asc_df_B07BQPQ62R/?tag=googleshopdsk-22&linkCode=df0&hvadid=341772974134&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3930951605393859236&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9071336&hvtargid=pla-673550396569&psc=1
A promotional idea from W+K that you couldn’t buy and the AFL brand licensed to the existing game that is Monopoly. Yes this idea has definitely been done before.
The crap that people will buy from Kmart.
Lame as it is, it should be free. Especially if it’s about educating people about a service they already pay for.
I like it. I think the insight is something like this: Thanks to Covid people are staying indoors way more to hang out with mates (and their kids) and we all know insurance jargon is some of the most confusing stuff known to man. While it might not be the best way to spend your saturday night indoors, it does still serve a purpose.
It’s so vague and confusing that people on the blog are writing them for them
this is cool.
This is a prime example of clients thinking consumers give as many fucks about their brand as the clients are paid to.
NEWSFLASH: THEY DON’T. No one cares about your brand, clients, NO ONE. Certainly not a fucken insurance company selling branded board games at Kmart. Jesus Christ.
Get out of your bubbles and join us in the real world.
WOW we all like to bag out people giving it a go. Most companies try and do the best for their customers and most of these comments assume it’s a money grab… I sincerely doubt it. If Mattel brought out this game focusing on the disasters that could happen… i.e. kids play this type of thing all the time (just go into the back yard of any home) kids are playing shootem up… plane crash, stomp… Thunderbirds to the rescue… So I beg to question … why is that different to this game. What because an insurance company did it (who typically do some pretty great things for the community and no I don’t work there). It’s about time we start to help our kids understand some life skills… insurance and risk… consequences… why not a money management game. This might actually help them and let them have fun. Play is learning… so why not learn something useful.
And why don’t we all add more kindness to our community and not bag people out for giving it a go. You can choose not to like it.. but seriously be kinder about it… because I’m sure you would not like everyone to step into your world and knock down your idea.
Well done NRMA…. I like the idea … thanks for being brave.
So you admit this is NRMA marketing to children then?
According to a United Nations report on agriculture, it takes on average 20 litres of water to produce 1 gram of steak or beef, that is a little over 7000! litres of water to produce a 500 gram steak! (that is a quotient, or the answer to the division of the total amount of beef produced by one cow and the entire amount of water used to raise the destructive cunt… that is to say, a 650kilo heifer will require over 9,100,000 litres of water before the cow is slaughtered and butchered)… and yet, we are, as a nation that is, expected, according to the current modelling to grown by another 17,000,000 by 2061 (according the “Australian Bureau of statistics” abs.gov.au that is)…
please provide me a intruction of that game or guide.. i dont understand how to play it.. from philippines