In this instalment, Budget Direct highlights how it has once again outnumbered the competition to win Money Magazine’s 2023 Insurer of the Year award, taking its record run of awards to a ‘Magnificent Seven’ in a row.

Developed by 303 MullenLowe and Budget Direct’s marketing team, the new ‘Rise of the Machines’ ad focuses on a familiar sight in most urban areas – the e-bike and e-scooter – coming to life in a dramatic, if not out of this world car chase, after being knocked to the ground by a Budget Direct customer. Never fear though, with Sarge, Jacs, Chief and Budget Direct on the case, the customer has nothing to worry about.

303 MullenLowe Sydney chief creative officer Bart Pawlak explained, “Despite being Australia’s fastest growing insurer, Budget Direct refuses to relinquish its challenger mindset. And it’s this quality that makes the brand particularly enjoyable to work on,” he said.

“There’s an understanding that the hyperbole needs to be particularly hyperbolic and the cultural observations, like the increasingly ubiquitous nature of e-bikes in our cities, particularly on-point. The data keeps confirming that the Australian consumer is enjoying the work too. And as obvious as it sounds, the Australian consumer is the only audience we ever produce this work for.”

Live nationally from this week, the campaign will be seen across TV, cinema, OOH, digital and radio, and is the latest in a string of highly successful campaigns developed for the brand over the past 10 years by its long-running agency partner 303 MullenLowe.

Budget Direct chief growth officer Jonathan Kerr added, “We set out to create advertising that you can’t ignore. It’s designed to really make you feel something, so you bother to pay attention and then via that ‘earned engagement’, our message has a chance to sink in. Our creative platform allows us to consistently deliver our core narrative but keep the public’s interest by changing gears via ads that sometime leverage humour and other times turn up the drama.”

The Insurance Solved platform – featuring Sarge, Jac and Chief – first launched in 2018 and continues to engage and entertain Australia, according to Kerr: “Budget Direct’s marketing campaign has led to unmatched success with the Australian public, which when combined with our multi-award winning insurance products, continues to make Budget Direct’s marketing campaign the most successful insurance marketing campaign in Australia since its launch.”