RIP Simon

  • Laptop screen with LifeDirect’s website page that says ‘celebrate the life of Simon’ asking the user to tell us how you ‘knew’ the sloth mascot
Flipping the Script on Life Insurance

LifeDirect is New Zealand’s leading life insurance aggregation website. For almost 10 years, the face of the brand has been its obscure mascot, Simon the Sloth — a lethargic animated character who, not surprisingly, had lost relevance. We were tasked with reinvigorating the brand and driving leads, awareness, and web traffic among New Zealanders ages 25 to 35, a demographic with an ever-increasing responsibility to insure themselves for the benefit of their dependents.

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But this audience viewed death as a distant, irrelevant issue.

As a real-time demonstration of the unpredictability of life, and the significant benefits of life insurance, we killed our longstanding mascot, Simon.

The next day, we ran full-page obituaries, announcing that Simon had failed to specify his insurance beneficiaries. Kiwis who ‘knew’ Simon were invited to share stories about their relationship in order to receive a share.

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  • Media CoverageA collage of the channel logos that LifeDirect campaign RIP Simon aired on. Says 'Aired on 25 Channels’
    RIPSimonFull.png: A collage of the channel logos that LifeDirect campaign RIP Simon aired on. Says 'Aired on 25 Channels’
  • Obituary notice that says ‘Sloth, Simon the’ with details about the LifeDirect mascot’s passing
    Obituary notice that says ‘Sloth, Simon the’ with details about the LifeDirect mascot’s passing
  • RIPSimon2.png: Billboard that says ‘Simon the Sloth 04.05.88-02.09.18’ with picture of Simon and a candle
    Billboard that says ‘Simon the Sloth 04.05.88-02.09.18’ with picture of Simon and a candle