Nomad Turns Back the Clock for First Ever Hippo Insurance TV Campaign

Nomad Creative Studio has partnered with Hippo Insurance, the company transforming home insurance to fit the tailored needs of modern homeownership, to create and produce the company’s first-ever television ad campaign. A massive success in its first four weeks on the air, Hippo’s brand awareness soared by 300% and its quote requests jumped by 317%.

In the spot, mesmerising slow-motion effects show home and property destruction, in reverse. The viewer sees demolished property and possessions inside a home being pieced back together instead of torn apart, paired with a soundtrack that plays off of the reverse concept by incorporating a hypnotic backwards piano track.

“We knew we couldn’t break out of the insurance clutter with jokes, jingles and catch phrases, so we looked for an emotion to build on,” said Joanne O’Brien Rietta, Managing Director at Nomad Creative Studio. “We found what most people want after an accident is for things to just go back to the way they were. This ad is both arresting and compelling to watch, but also does some ‘heavy lifting’ in delivering Hippo’s value propositions.”

Focused on differentiation, the goal of the spot was to build awareness of Hippo and the things that make its policies better than traditional ones. Strong visuals, fueled by Nomad’s expertise in strategy, production, editorial, VFX and sound design, helped give the ad a sense of scope, while conveying the important part Hippo plays in assisting homeowners. “When we started thinking about developing a TV campaign, we had big ambitions.” said Bob Ferrini, Chief Brand Officer at Hippo. “Nomad Creative Studio was the perfect solution. Because they handle every aspect of the process directly, they are thinking about the realities of what it would take to make ideas as they are coming up with them. So, we were talking about things like live-action vs. CGI and shooting in Argentina to help save money as a part of the creative development process. That helped us land on an idea that we knew we could execute beautifully within our budget before we approved it. And it ended up being the most important factor in the result we achieved.”

In July, Hippo announced $100 million in funding at a $1 billion valuation that will continue to drive the expansion of the company’s geographic U.S. footprint. To date, Hippo is available in 19 states, and covers more than 50% of the U.S. homeowners population with plans to reach 80% by the end of 2019.