Admiral Takes a Trip to Admouth Town for Latest Ads

McCann has created two new animated TV adverts for insurance leader Admiral set in its highly distinctive fictional animated community of Admouth. This follows the town’s successful launch in a previous campaign from 2019, which was a major departure from the insurer’s marketing strategy. Narrated by Tony-nominated actor Stephen Mangan, the new stories feature The Admiral, voiced by Emmy-winning actress Sally Phillips, and Admouth resident, Mrs Taylor, voiced by actress Ginny Holder.

Created in partnership with production company, Studio AKA, the 30-second and 10 second TV spots showcase the versatility of Admiral MultiCover insurance, which allows families to insure all of their cars, vans and homes under one policy, even when they live at different addresses. 

The hero 30-second ad, Balloon, features The Admiral and Mrs Taylor taking a hot air balloon trip above the town. They’re treating themselves to a picnic, when a cheeky seagull steals their roast chicken. However, the cooked bird is too heavy to carry and it crashes down and through the car of Mrs Taylor’s son, Tim. More meddlesome seagulls cause the balloon to lose altitude before it crashes into Old Mrs Taylor’s chimney. Finally, we see The Admiral fixing the house and Tim’s car being towed away. Fortunately, the Taylor family are insured together with Admiral MultiCover.

The 10 second ad, Tai Chi, features Old Mrs Taylor doing Tai Chi in her back garden. A gateau comes falling from Mrs Taylor’s balloon above. Luckily, Old Mrs Taylor is protected by The Admiral’s canine sidekick who opens a parasol above her head.

Admouth was created by Zane Radcliffe, creative director, and Ken Sara, senior art director at McCann. Director Steve Small and his animation team at the BAFTA-winning Studio AKA brought the animated world to life for the first advert in 2019, titled Smartphone. They have reprised their work for the two new stories. 

The look and feel of the work is reminiscent of traditional model animation, creating endearing characters that inhabit a beautifully rich and diverse English seaside town. Backed by a team of CGI artists and animators, the resulting work is charming, bright, heart-warming and maintains the feel of stop-motion.

Alex Murphy, head of marketing at Admiral added: “Moving to animation was a big change for us in 2019, but the results have been fantastic. In creating these two new ads, we wanted to build on that success and the meaningful connections we’d created between our brand and consumers. The aim is to be distinctive and show that Admiral products make customers’ lives easier by offering a simple solution in a complex world. It’s incredibly exciting to see the town of Admouth growing and introducing new residents.”

The adverts will air from 5th February in their 30 and 10-second formats on ITV, C4, UKTV, C5 and Sky.