Direct Line x Optimus Prime - We're On It

Direct Line experienced huge success in 2019 with their ‘We’re On It’ platform which featured three advertisements starring RoboCop, Donatello from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Bumblebee from the TRANSFORMERS franchise. The campaign went on to win Marketing Week’s highly prestigious Grand Prix award in 2021. Exceeding expectations and performing well across every possible metric, they had to go even bigger for their next campaign…that’s where Born Licensing and Optimus Prime stepped in.

Saatchi & Saatchi put together an amazing brief and over the course of several months, we presented and explored a range of different movie, TV, and cartoon characters that we felt could work with the creative and timings. As the creative team whittled down the list, we engaged with Rights Holders to walk them through the creative direction and negotiate the commercial terms.

Two years after the launch of the ‘We’re On It’ campaign Direct Line’s creative agency Saatchi & Saatchi reached out to us with an incredible new brief that had evolved from the original ‘We’re On It’ concept. They wanted a legendary character from popular culture to be seen taking some time off whilst Direct Line continues to save the day. Our job was to help them explore suitable characters. In the end, Optimus Prime felt like the perfect fit. Big in size and gravitas, the leader of the Autobots needed some much-needed time off from protecting the universe.

Timings were tight on this campaign and so our connections and strong relationships with studios and Rights Holders were vital in getting Saatchi & Saatchi the answers they needed quickly. Hasbro own the rights to Optimus Prime and the TRANSFORMERS brand. As Hasbro’s licensing agent we negotiated the commercial terms and managed all other aspects of the licensing from start to finish without charging any clearance fees.

Born Licensing’s David Born attended the shoot in Cape Town and was on site to help Saatchi & Saatchi and Direct Line with any licensing related issues throughout. While on set he had the opportunity to have his photo taken with Optimus Prime himself in truck form! Take a look at the Behind the Scenes film!

Hasbro, the Licensors of the Transformers brand, had to be kept in the loop across all creative development. This included the script, storyboards, still poses, edits and final material. The development of Optimus Prime came in post-production and involved the use of assets from the 2014 TRANSFORMERS film. We worked with Paramount Pictures and ILM to ensure all required assets were available to incorporate into the material. Throughout the development, we submitted updates to Hasbro to ensure they were comfortable with the progress. Born Licensing managed the entire approval process from start to finish, allowing all other parties to focus on what they do best.

The campaign premiered on Tuesday 26th April 2022 with a blockbuster 60” TV spot. It is supported by OOH, Social, Digital content and PR.