NRMA Insurance’s brand purpose is HELP. Their promise is to help make the world a safer place. The brief was to connect the purpose and belief of NRMA Insurance with the shared purpose, beliefs and behaviours of every Australian as witnessed through the shared experiences before, during and after the Black Summer fires. The brief included the creation of a film to spark a national conversation and drive change.

The objective was to drive audiences to join the Australian Resilience Corps and build safer, more resilient communities by encouraging people to be prepared, seek help when they need it, and help others in return when they can. The ultimate goal is to build the largest volunteer organisation in the world by 2025.

The documentary at the heart of this campaign turns a sensitive lens on the horror of Australia’s bushfires and the astounding toll it took on the lives of ordinary people who possess a fire inside – the instinctive and extraordinary desire to help. By focusing on people’s experiences before, during, and after the fires, the film highlighted the sheer magnitude of the devastation and the emotional rollercoaster of rebuilding and recovery. Turning the lens on the audience by the end of the film to move people to action and recognise the power they each have in building resilience in themselves and their communities was important in providing tangible hope. This provides the emotional hook to set up the powerful call to action, driving real world impact by directing people to join the Australian Resilience Corps.

A Fire Inside.

Watch the film. Read the book. Join the Corps.

In October 2021, NRMA Insurance released ‘A Fire Inside’ – a significant project including a feature length documentary and a book – to create a national movement in partnership with Minderoo Foundation, to mobilise Australia’s largest contingency of volunteers to prepare and protect Australia from future natural disasters. The brand has a vision to encourage all Australians to take preventive action against these extreme weather events and build more resilient communities.

To achieve this, NRMA Insurance has created a suite of action-oriented programs that inspire people to proactively prepare – ‘A Fire Inside’ is the brand’s most ambitious project to date. It was brought to life by a village of creative agencies, talent and world-class distributors and has become an integral part of the national conversation regarding natural disaster preparedness.

The film premiered at the Sydney Film Festival, followed by a theatrical release in 138 cinemas across Australia, with the book release launching simultaneously. At the end of its theatrical run, the film was broadcast on major free-to-air channels NINE and 9GEM and made available on BVOD streaming platform 9NOW, free and accessible to all Australians. It is also available to purchase on iTunes, Google Play, and Prime Video.

Supporting educational materials were released to coincide with the FTA and BVOD launch and distributed to a network of more than 180,000 teachers across the country.

A strong PR campaign launched with the Festival and garnered a significant amount of earned media continuing throughout its theatrical run. The paid media campaign centred on the FTA broadcast and leveraged a partnership with NINE/Fairfax to promote the film and book and integrate elements of the campaign across all NINE/Fairfax platforms.

The ‘A Fire Inside’ campaign has reached over 50 million people and generated over 500 news stories. The Film was nominated for Best Australian Documentary and the Sustainable Future Award at the Sydney Film Festival, and won the Special Youth Jury Award at the Ulju Mountain Film Festival. It went on to become the number one documentary on 9NOW over the 2021/2022 summer.

The educational materials consisted of lesson plans mapped to the official Australian high school curriculum, helping students engage with the film and its themes of help, resilience, rebuilding and community. These lessons reached approximately 10,500 students over the first three months of availability. 44,000 people accessed the A Fire Inside website in the first three months, which provided resources to Give and Get Help.

The Australian Resilience Corps has become the fastest growing volunteer organisation in Australia.