Special NZ Expand on Partners Life Brand Platform with ‘The Heist'

‘The Heist’, which is the latest iteration of the Partners Life ‘Get Life Right’ brand platform, highlights the importance of living life with a plan b in place. Being unable to work due to illness or injury is not a position many people picture themselves in, yet 170,000 people stopped working due to injury or illness in the year ending June 2020 – approximately 6% of the total employed population in New Zealand. 

The campaign highlights the real consequences of not having income protection cover and provokes our audience to think of income protection as a plan b, rather than facing the alternative, like we see here, and being forced into taking desperate measures to stay afloat.

Mika Ballantyne, marketing communications manager at Partners Life, said, “As a nation we are underinsured. Many New Zealanders go through life hoping for the best, but what’s really best is having a plan b. Income insurance provides you with financial support if you are unable to work due to injury or illness, so you don’t find yourself in the position of the poor (once rich) man in this campaign.”

The film was brought to life by production company DIVISION and director Sanjay De Silva. Better known for a vibrant visual style, De Silva enjoyed trying his hand at a darker tone.

Genevieve Triquet, Executive Producer at DIVISION, said, “It was an honour for DIVISION to get the chance to work with Partners Life - a client who embraces creativity and strong ideas”.

Collaborating closely with the creative team at Special, director Sanjay De Silva brought his unique voice to the script, with meticulously crafted detail and playfulness. The heist genre is full of unavoidable clichés – from the neo-noir lighting, the tense pulsing soundtrack - so instead of shying away from them, he sought to embrace them to heighten the rug pull in the script.

The hero film is accompanied by a 15” execution that sees the thieves pondering their own income protection, and the campaign is rounded out with OOH and radio pointing out the lifestyle changes necessary if you don’t have income protection insurance as your plan b.

Steve Hansen, creative director, said, “We wanted to plant the seed of income protection by flipping a familiar genre in a way our audience wouldn’t see coming. A bit like illness or injury.”