Well-known South African CGI animation studio, Luma, was appointed to design and bring to life three authentically South African wallet personalities, each taking the limelight in a 30-second television commercial spot. The campaign unfolds as the different consumer personas – depicted by the talking wallets – respond to different financial situations and the dynamics that local consumers are regularly faced with.

Conceived by AIR Films director, Matthys Boshoff, the insurer’s latest campaign will broadcast on DStv, e.tv and SABC 1, 2 and 3 from January until later in 2014.

“Everyone has a wallet or purse. They represent an owner’s financial state and are an expression of the owner’s identity. We keep ID cards, photos, cash slips and all sorts of things in our wallets. They are in the best position to judge our financial well-being and, of course, feel the brunt of tough times, as well as the best of good times. Wallets can be fat and full, or just the opposite: hungry. So the idea was born to create photo-real wallets and purses that could talk, a character that that the viewer could relate to,” says Boshoff.

Calling on car insurance policyholders, the campaign’s call to action is: if you call OUTsurance to get a quick car insurance quote and if the insurer is unable to beat your current premium, OUTsurance will pay you R400.

“It’s an assertive, simple and powerful money-saving call to action. Most insurers punt their “money saving” products – as do we – the only difference being that we are really putting our money where our mouth is, and it’s a win-win solution for the consumer,” says Peter Cronje, head of Marketing at OUTsurance.

Like their American counterparts, South African insurers are becoming more ambitious in their marketing, investing considerable budget in brand advertising across a variety of disciplines, including above the line advertising, public relations, cause-related marketing, eventing and digital communications. In February 2011, America’s combined annual insurance ad spend was purported to be at the R42-billion mark.

Comments Cronje: “It’s all about being top of mind. Consumers gravitate towards insurers that they see a lot of, whom they feel they can trust, and most importantly, whom they feel will offer the best value for money.”

Believing that the only way to stand out is to produce more high-quality, entertaining campaigns, OUTsurance appointed some of the country’s best film and TV production people to produce a campaign that ticks many of the infotainment boxes.

“Before shooting even began, we pre-visualised all of the spots, with AIR Films producing the live action background ‘plates’. After this, Luma placed the wallet characters ‘into’ the live action scenes,” says Paul Meyer, EO for Luma.

Commenting on the experience with Luma, Cronje says, “From the time we saw their show reel and met the team, we knew we had come to the right place. The quality of the end product is exceptional; despite the tight deadline and the inevitable script changes along the way.”