Baloise Insurance Opens Branch in the Worlds Most Dangerous Virtual City
Carjackings, break-ins and property damage by the minute: no city harbours as many dangers as Los Santos, the fictional setting of the Grand Theft Auto video game series. But now, this locus of lawlessness is being made safer.
Baloise is expanding into the virtual world. As of February 7th, gamers can take out insurance and make banking transactions in the virtual city of Los Santos, the Los Angeles-inspired setting of the legendary GTA video game series. In the world’s least-safe metropolis, Baloise is demonstrating its expertise.
"Los Santos is the most dangerous city in the world. Vandalism and bank robberies are a daily occurrence here. There is probably no better place to demonstrate our expertise in claims settlement and financial protection," explains Daniel Zangger, head of branding at Baloise. "With our presence in GTA V, we want to present ourselves in a playful way and create entertaining content for a large target audience." Swiss PC gamers can access the game via SwissHub, Switzerland’s largest role-playing server, with over 3,500 members.
A comprehensive insurance portfolio
Baloise is offering an extensive range of insurance solutions in GTA V, including vehicle insurance for cars, motorcycles, bicycles, boats and airplanes. Players owning these vehicles can benefit from cheaper towing fees or reduced costs at impound lots. Legal insurance enables a quicker release from prison, and liability insurance comes into play in the event of a claim. Life insurance and accidental death insurance mean players' belongings are not lost after virtual death (a frequent occurrence in Los Santos). Instead, they can simply be collected from the Baloise branch. But Baloise is not only acting as a gamified insurance provider: all banks and ATMs in Los Santos will also be rebranded with the company logo.
Dual-leadership branch management
The virtual branch will be managed by two general insurance agents. Throughout the campaign’s launch month, they’ll investigate damages, provide customers with support and advice, and undergo adventures in the most dangerous city in the world. How the virtual customer service will continue from March onwards will depend on the outcome of the campaign. However, the Baloise brand will continue to be present on the role-playing server.
One campaign - multiple touchpoints
Switzerland is a nation of gamers, with two million Swiss people playing video games multiple times a week. With upwards of 190 million copies sold worldwide, GTA V is the second-most successful game of all time and extremely popular in Switzerland. Enthusiasm for the game reaches across generations. The "Grand Theft Insurance" campaign was therefore decentrally developed to be experienced across various channels depending on target group. Audiences can watch the general agents over their virtual shoulder via livestream on Twitch every Wednesday to Saturday from 6pm to 10pm. On YouTube, a video series will highlight the best moments from Los Santos. And on LinkedIn, the general agents will post daily reports from the branch. Given these will consist of security updates on Los Santos and live coverage of car chases, they’ll likely stand out in followers’ feeds. So whether gamers or desktop procrastinators, Grand Theft Insurance will offer something for everyone.
