To build confidence in Direct Line as a fixer of BIG insurance-worthy problems, we needed to show we understood the frustrating nature of SMALL ones.

A Goldsmiths study unearthed which frustrations cause the most stress (disproportionately) and why. But it wasn’t enough to empathise – we needed to get fixing.

#directfix used Twitter to listen to people’s everyday little problems – and swiftly solve them. From forgotten gym kits to puddle-drenched clothes, our street team swooped in with fixes. The surprise and delight of shocked individuals quickly gained social media attention, transforming a channel previously used for insurance complaints.

We amplified our campaign with bigger fixes. We challenged inventors to create prototype fixes, leading to a new ‘insurance’ product - the worlds smallest phone charger - launching this year. And we fixed the morale of the country’s worst football team; replaced stolen church lights and even fixed burnt Christmas dinners.

From June 2015 we hit the streets, surprising with personal fixes for little problems like stained clothes and forgotten lunches.

We offered fixes for commuters during Tube strikes and rained-out festival goers, leaving in our wake a grateful – and vocal - public.

Our ever-listening team also roamed the country, responding to larger scale problems spotted on Twitter, creating an unmissable news and feed worthy impact. We ‘fixed’ Christmas – an extremely stressful period for organised types - by rebranding to #merryfixmas. We covered cars (not starting because of the cold) in Christmas jumpers, supplied sold out Christmas presents to desperate parents and even delivered emergency turkeys on Christmas day to replace burnt ones.

And when we heard about the UK’s worst non-league football team in March 2016 we brought England legend Stuart Pearce out of retirement as their newest signing, to fix the problem.

- 467 coverage hits, OTS 4.5bn

- 16m @DirectLine_UK impressions

- Football fix trended twice organically

- 5,000% increase in Periscope subscribers

- 10,000 unique uses of campaign #

- 0% negative sentiment

- Compliments up: 0 to 350

- Net Promoter Score: 91 (vs financial services norm: 28)

- Average Customer Survey satisfaction: 9.5/10

- Harvard Business School named Direct Line ‘most empathetic company on Twitter’

- 3million+ views of Stuart Pearce vines

- Average engagement rate: 10% (vs 0.64% financial services industry average). Car jumper tweet: 24%.

Compared to 2014:

- Spontaneous awareness and consideration up 3%

- Brand connection / preference up 8%

- Increased preference to use Direct Line if prices for all companies were equal (up 5% motor insurance, 6% home).

- Significant uplift against all brand metrics

- Combined home and motor YTD GWP increased by 2%, delivering growth for first time since 2010