2025 Winner

CASE SUMMARY

In late 2023, belairdirect launched a new brand platform, "insurance, simplified" to stand out in a category where differentiation based on functional attributes is nearly impossible. While offering a variety of products, auto insurance typically consumes the majority of marketing efforts (at the expense of home insurance), and the brand sought to reestablish a balance between promoting each of its segments.

In a category where consideration and lead generation are critical, belairdirect was increasingly concerned that the market wasn't sufficiently associating the brand with home insurance, directly impacting home insurance sales.

They therefore needed to develop an initiative that, complementary to the national brand campaign, would achieve these specific objectives for home insurance. The campaign's success would therefore rely on its ability to stimulate conversation (earned media) around the brand and its home insurance offering, measured by media coverage and social media conversation.

The strategic opportunity emerged at the intersection of a challenge belairdirect shares with most established brands — improving performance among younger audiences — and a peculiarity of the Quebec market, the Canadian province with the highest proportion of renters (5 million households in Quebec), with Montreal ranking first among cities with the largest proportion of renters (46%) in the country. Recognizing Quebec's July 1st "Moving Day" as a cultural moment that naturally generates conversation, the agency saw an organic insertion point for the brand — allowing them to reach and engage this audience, who are less receptive to traditional tactics using paid media.

Young adults in Quebec face significant stress and challenges on moving day, making it an ideal moment to showcase belairdirect's simplified home insurance solutions.

"The Mystery Fridge" — juxtapose the ease of being a belairdirect customer with the chaos of moving day by staging a dramatic, seemingly real moving day disaster that young adults would naturally want to share.

"The Mystery Fridge" combined the best of belairdirect with the worst of Moving Day. By anonymously staging a moving nightmare on a busy Montreal street, they aimed to create content so compelling that Gen Z — known for their skepticism toward advertising — would voluntarily share it.

They needed to be methodical.

The staging was cinematic. A real refrigerator genuinely rested on a car; it had apparently been crushed under the balcony from which the mover had seemingly dropped it while trying to hoist it up with cables, which were still present. And the person responsible seemed far too "relaxed"...

The orchestration was deliberate. No press releases; they let the story reach journalists organically. The agency exploited people's natural inclination to document and share sensational events first, and verify sources later. They deliberately delayed revealing the brand's role, allowing the event to gain credibility with both media and the public through its organic discoverability.

Only once the social/media conversation was well underway did they break the mystery, giving a second wind to media coverage and organic conversation. A few media outlets and influencers received the scoop, while on site, a banner in belairdirect colors now covered the moving truck with the message: "Moving isn't always simple. Our auto and home insurance, that's simple."

The agency generated an organic conversation in two waves: first as a mysterious accident, then as an ingenious publicity stunt. Radio stations, television, and online publications amplified the story, expanding reach beyond social media to capture the attention of the general public beyond their primary audience.

By juxtaposing the ease of being a belairdirect customer with the chaos of moving day in Quebec, the brand not only brought its brand promise to life, but it also generated unprecedented engagement among young people that transformed, as desired, into conversation across the province.

This staging and its two-phase deployment produced a level of engagement (and generated organic reach) that would have been impossible with a traditional advertising approach, all with $0 in media investment.

The media coverage generated by the campaign exceeded 6.5M impressions, fueled by nearly 1M organic social impressions and an engagement level exceeding norms by more than 189%. Because beyond reach, the initiative gave birth to a new online behavior: associating any other unusual viral accident online with belairdirect and its insurance campaigns.

The increased attention for belairdirect generated by the "Mystery Fridge" translated into a direct impact on the brand's main objectives.

In July, the brand saw a record increase in consideration, rising nine percentage points from 17% in June to 26%, placing it among the top three in the category. Lead generation also showed strong momentum, with a 20% year-over-year increase in additional home insurance quotes in Quebec. This growth translated into tangible results, with home insurance sales up 16% compared to the previous year.

Credits

SID LEE (Agency)
• Félix-Antoine Brunet: Art Director
• Olivier Goulet-Lafond: Copywriter
• Alexis Caron-Côté: Copywriter
• Alexandre Pellerin: Creative Director
• Alexis Caron-Côté: Creative Director
• Alex Bernier: Executive Creative Director
• Jean-François Dumais: EVP, Head of Creative
• Gaëlle Paquet: Account Executive
• Éric-Alexandre Simard: Account Executive
• Vanessa Gervais: Executive Producer

* Ryan Lacquement: Directeur de groupe, Stratégie
* Anastasiia Sitnikova: Stratège
* Nardjes Rouighi: Group Account Director

• Camille Nadeau: Production Coordinator

belairdirect (Client)
• Marie-Claude Filion: Marketing Specialist
• Chloé Bibeau: Marketing Manager
• Evelyne Lepage: Marketing Director
• Marie-Pierre Leclerc: Vice-President, Marketing
• Gabrielle Samson: Marketing Advisor
• Jennifer Beck: Communications Director
• Amélie Therrien: Marketing Advisor
• Patrick Dubé: Marketing Advisor

PARADES (production)
• Jean-René Parenteau: Executive Producer
• Guillaume Dubois: Producer & Partner

CLARK INFLUENCE ( PR & Influencer company)
• Myriam Plante: Account Director
• Marisol Lafrance: Strategy and Influencer Advisor

PHD ( Media agency)
• Caroline Côté-Lebeau: Associate Director, Strategy
• Alexandra Cloutier: Director, Digital Activation
• Rachel Prévost: Supervisor, Digital Activation

PHD ( Social Media agency)
• George Swann: Account Manager
• Jade Lavallée-Labossière: Account Director