A Tunbridge Wells creative agency is behind an unusual insurance app advert that is surprising TV audiences this week.
Gingermonkeys Creative, based in Church Road, produced the television campaign for TRiCE, which allows smartphone users to get a quote for car, pet and gadget insurance in less than 60 seconds.
More than one million ITV Good Morning Britain viewers caught the first glimpse of the advert on Monday [March 19], which shows an alpha female describing the app during what appears to be a dog walk in a park.
The twist comes, during the 30-second film, when the dog actually appears to be the woman’s male partner, who is then walked on a lead and chases a Frisbee.
Insurance company Markerstudy is behind the TRiCE app which, much like the advertisement, is designed to stand out from the crowd.
Drawing inspiration from the sub-culture puppy play was a quirky move and Hayley Avron, Gingermonkeys’ Operations Manager, said the aim was to create a ‘funny’ and ‘controversial’ piece.
She told the Times: “The point was that it changes the way of thinking about things and we wanted to change people’s perceptions. These are overturned by the end of the advert. We are treading the line between controversy and humour.”
The advertisement is being broadcast on Sky, ITV, BT, Comedy Central and Dave as well as online platforms over the next few weeks.
With insurance often having a less-than-thrilling image, creative agencies have pushed the boundaries with advertising.
This follows price comparison service Money Supermarket releasing their all-singing, all-dancing Action Man on screens earlier this month.
Ms Avron continued: “One of the great things I would say about Markerstudy is that they are keen to be different and keen to be interesting. We get to be creative.”
While she described her role as ‘the boring person behind the scenes’, Ms Avron took a lead role in the direction of the advertisement, which was filmed in Epping Forest.
She added: “We had a really quick turnaround for this. It was a real fight to get it ready in the time we had.
“Our work is wide-ranging and we are involved in all sorts of projects. The brief came to us in November, but it was January when we had a more detailed brief. It has been a great process and one of the most enjoyable projects I have worked on.
“I am a little bit nervous, but really excited to see it. I can get tunnel vision when working on a project, but we are really happy with the ad.
“Even though we knew the script, we still burst out laughing when we saw it, which was the intended response.”
TRiCE is available to download from the Google and iTunes app store.
