• by Larissa Faw , September 21, 2016

Sonnet, a new insurance company in Canada is introducing itself to the public with a multimillion dollar campaign, said to be one of the largest in the country this year.

Led by AOR Johannes Leonardo, other agencies involved include OMD for media, Carrot Creative for social, Argyle for PR, and KBS for a Quebec market specialization effort.

The concept seeks to differentiate the company from competitors by focusing on positive and uplifting elements (similar to the approach State Farm took in a new U.S. campaign a few months back). 

Any insurance company can prepare you for the worst, the company states, but Sonnet wants to keep people focused on the best things that can happen to bring positive changes to consumers’ lives.

"The whole point of our campaign is that anyone can insure your things, the hard part is making getting insured painless, and therefore protecting people's frame of mind during these precious moments like buying your first car or moving into a new home," says Leo Premutico, co-founder, chief creative officer, Johannes Leonardo. 

The Rocket spot, for instance, shows a rocket-shaped thumbs sign blasting off into space with the voiceover asking, "what if there was an insurance company Canadians actually liked." 

The campaign is voiced by actor Michael J. Fox, who was a perfect fit to help introduce this company to potential consumers, says Premutico. "Sonnet is a Canadian company, trying to change insurance for the better. So it felt right to have a Canadian introduce them. And who better to herald optimism into the category than Michael J. Fox.?

He's a living demonstration for the power of positivity – the 'incurable optimist' and has published multiple books on the subject. So I'm not sure this is something Michael would have done had he not felt so passionately about the company's purpose."

The campaign includes TV, digital, out-of-home, display, and social. Experiential and sponsorship activations include the Osheaga music festival, Toronto Blue Jays sponsorship, NHL World Cup of Hockey and the Montgolfieres Balloon Festival. 

"This is a massive, impressive campaign for the Canadian market in terms of both size and caliber," says John Rocco, VP marketing, Sonnet. "It has significant integration across television, digital, out of home and programmatic, with a fully French component of the campaign targeted to Quebec. The full scope of the campaign will unroll throughout this year and into 2017 with further commercials telling stories about optimism."

This media buy is targeting ages 25-54 with a focus on millennial and mature millennial, says Rocco. "Those that are digital natives, comfortable with self-service and online purchases."

Sonnet’s parent company is Economical Insurance, a mutual insurance company that has been operating solely in the broker channel for over 145 years. Sonnet was created this year as a way to appeal to a target of the market not currently served by brokers – those who prefer to purchase insurance directly.

The company has the first fully online insurance process in Canada.