Car Insurer Marshmallow Goes Surreal-ly Sweet in First TV Campaign

Marshmallow, the car insurance challenger brand, is launching its first TV campaign with a series of surreal vignette style films showing customers cars filled with marshmallows as they go about their day. 

With the brief of ‘looking (almost) nothing like a traditional insurance brand’, the 10 second films, created by 20something and directed by Harry Cauty at KODE Media, break the mould of category norms, establishing a stand out visual style and tone, whilst putting the unforgettable brand name at the front of consumers’ minds. (In addition to procuring vintage cars, KODE’s art department secured no less than 53,200 marshmallows, which filled the vehicles featured to the brim.) 

The quirky spots are part of Marshmallow’s first integrated brand campaign since achieving unicorn status in 2021 and appointing 20something and Wake the Bear as its lead creative and media agencies respectively. 

The TV is accompanied by a category-defying OOH campaign which combines bold colours with humorous and irreverent statements, including wordplay on the Backstreet Boys classic with ‘Back seat’s back, alright’. The OOH will run across five cities in the UK. 

Fran Docx, strategy partner, 20something: “As soon as we set down the gauntlet to look nothing like any other insurance provider, we knew that the work was going to be exciting, a bit weird, and very bold. We’ve also learnt that you can’t buy pink marshmallows on their own. Despite the laborious task of separating over 50,000 marshmallows into pink and white, we’ve had a blast taking Marshmallow’s unique culture and tone of voice, and  transforming it to create a joyous, mischievous and distinctive campaign.” 

The campaign is a loud and proud statement from the newcomer to the car insurance market, where trust and interest remains low despite huge marketing investments from all of the big brands. This combined with the rise of the aggregator as a key sales gatekeeper, created the perfect storm for Marshmallow to challenge perceptions of how car insurance should work - and how car insurance advertising should look. 

Sam Knott, VP marketing, Marshmallow added: “We always move at rapid speed at Marshmallow and like to do things differently, so working with the right partners to deliver quality at speed was crucial. Together with 20something and Wake The Bear, we were able to deliver a campaign that we are really proud of, that was produced in an incredibly short timeframe and didn’t compromise on quality of creative or production output. We did this by behaving the same way as we do with our customers, by being open, honest and making decisions quickly. We’re really excited about telling more people about our award winning, affordable and flexible insurance.”

Lydia Mulkeen, managing director, Wake The Bear: “This campaign is the first step on an exciting journey that we’re on with Marshmallow to help them really challenge and provoke the car insurance category - which is in desperate need of disruption and innovation. Working with a brand that has the vision, technology and backing makes Marshmallow a dream Wake The Bear partner and we are excited to continue help growing their growth and success”

Harry Cauty, director, KODE: “You know the saying dogs look like their owners, well I wanted to embrace that same idea with the cars in these ads. This idea set the tone for us to really push the character levels across all departments, making all the details just as charming and funny as the car being filled with marshmallows. The casting sessions were great fun and Michelle May did a fantastic job styling the actors to further elevate the looks I was referencing. Once we had our cast and styles, we searched through an insane amount of vintage cars, to pair them with each actor. Once packed with Marshmallows, thanks to Machine Shop and Tom Gander, we had each of our surreal worlds complete. Shooting them was then just an absolute joy."

A ‘car insurance brand with a conscience’, Marshmallow was founded in 2018 to rethink how people are able to access and buy insurance through a more inclusive, data led approach. In doing so the brand has disrupted a tired, centuries-old industry, dominated by established players with product offerings that haven’t changed since the 80s.