Acts Over Ads: The Power of Advocacy

In today's complex and oversaturated marketplace, achieving cultural resonance for a brand is increasingly challenging. One misstep can lead to swift backlash, jeopardising reputation and eroding consumer trust.

According to the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer, ‘the line between brands and the society they operate in has dissolved’ and brands are on notice.

As Tesla drivers in the US report road harassment, it’s apparent that customers view brands as personal, and thus publicly accountable.

The consumer is firmly in the driver’s seat, steering their preferences and power through brand choices, and ready to hit the brakes on disingenuous brands jumping on the bandwagon of a social cause in the fast lane for likes.

That's exactly why in an era where consumers increasingly choose brands they trust and that have a positive impact, authenticity and accountability is paramount.

So, when a brand almost 100-years-old attempts to use a 'Distinctively Differentiated' lane, to drive positive change, best it kicks its own tyres and ensures it's truly ready for the journey ahead.
 

How we drove change – by changing lanes in Queensland

For NRMA Insurance, a Help Company, our purpose is embedded in the DNA of our parent company, IAG: "To make your world a safer place." As Australia and New Zealand’s largest general insurer and NRMA Insurance being Australia’s most trusted insurance brand according to Roy Morgan, we possess significant scale and with it, bear profound social responsibility.

For almost a century we have been helping keep people safe on and off the road.

As we look ahead to the next 100 years, staying relevant and connecting consumers with our company's purpose will require brand storytelling to take the lead. It must be authentic, human, and, most importantly, align with shared values.

Case in point the recent success of the ‘Help Our Highway’ campaign, an unprecedented partnership with News Corp, which provided credibility and cut through in a tough market.

So much more than an awareness initiative, it helped NRMA Insurance demonstrate a tangible act of help — steering meaningful change in road safety for the state.

If we aren’t advocating for things that really matter to our customers-surely, we are missing our fair share of opportunity, equity and trust. And with consumers four to six times more likely to support purpose-driven brands according to the Zeno Group, – doing good is not just a moral imperative; it's also good for business.
 

Building Trust on the Highway of Shame

In the case of Queensland, traditional advertising alone in a nuanced market was not cutting through.  We required a distinctively different approach to media, to demonstrate the brand’s local relevance.

By leveraging News Corp’s flagship Courier Mail, as more than just a distribution channel for ads, but rather a partner for meaningful acts, the campaign itself became the news.

Telling locals, we were here to help wasn’t enough, we needed to show them. Instead of thinking brand ad first, we needed a local brand act to deliver on a ‘customer first’ strategy. Become the Queensland solution to a Queensland problem. Behave like an advocate not an advertiser. 

Enter NRMA Insurance's The Bruce Highway. A name that evokes a response from almost every Queenslander. For some it’s sheer frustration, for others it’s a reminder of lives lost and for many it’s anger at the lack of progress when it comes to fixing Australia’s longest and arguably most unsafe highways.

The brand role was clear. Advocate for the safety of Queenslanders on the Bruce Highway. What we really needed was a local trusted voice to help amplify the message and give locals in the community a voice.
 

Partner with Publishers: Make Headlines & Drive Impact

The Courier Mail, Queensland’s 170-year-old masthead, provided that authoritative and safe voice, reaching locals the length of the Highway itself.

‘Help Our Highway’ would become what The Courier Mail editor Chris Jones described as “One of the biggest and most important advocacy campaigns Queensland has seen.”

Through heartfelt and sometimes gut-wrenching stories, the editorial team combined the intelligence of NRMA Insurance’s claims data and bespoke surveys with ownable data points, creating a blue thread of Help throughout the campaign.

Within the context of the editorial integrity of the newspaper, we were able to provide our own narrative drawing on stories from our own teams on the ground in Queensland, many of whom were also affected by the deteriorating Highway.

By advocating on behalf of Queenslanders, we became one with the community. This campaign demonstrated that when brands take meaningful action, they can drive significant change. It also showed that doing good is good for business. Our brand's perception improved, and we saw tangible benefits in terms of customer consideration and advocacy.

The results were extraordinary: a fourfold increase in local community brand perceptions, the highest ever level of non-customer consideration in Queensland, and contribution to the largest government investment in road safety in the state's history—over 7 billion dollars.
 

In the attention economy advocacy is an important currency

If advertising tries to interrupt the story, then brands must become part of that story. Brand acts over ads have been proven to show that consumers increasingly value a brand's actions and behaviours over its advertising campaigns.

A 2021 Harvard Business Study revealed that 77% of consumers are more likely to support brands that engage in social causes, having permission in an authentic way to play in this space is crucial. Now more than ever, we need to give our customers a reason to believe.

Within the current zeitgeist, brands can shift consideration by creating contextually relevant content aligned with their purpose that places us firmly as the ‘advocacy superheroes’, in our own customer’s story.
 

Conclusion:  Purpose can be power

In conclusion, brands have the power to be agents of real change. By focusing on actions over advertising, we can build authentic connections with our audience and make a positive impact on society. Doing good is not just a moral imperative; it's also a smart business strategy. As we navigate the challenges of today's marketplace, let's remember that our actions speak louder than words. Standing up for meaningful causes and forming the right partnerships, are not only ethically sound but strategically advantageous.