For this campaign, film was an ideal way to land a provocative thought in a visceral, emotive, disruptive way. By challenging the status quo and celebrating female courage, smarts and audacity. Film enabled us to unpack our argument both logically and passionately, while backing it up visually by showing a diverse range of awesome women across a range of professional and societal contexts. And crucially it enabled us to build to a memorable endpoint where we wrapped our complex point about female bravery and the need for cultural change into three bold, catchy and sticky words: ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’.

In predominantly English-speaking societies, the concept of courage and bravery is commonly described as someone having “balls”. Even females who demonstrate bravery are said to have “balls”.

Western culture is over-run with examples of journalists, presenters, commentators, sportsmen - and women - using terms like “that took balls!”, “ballsy move” and “wow, he’s got some serious balls” and so on.

Knowing that language shapes the way we see the world, and that half of the humans on the planet don’t actually have testicles, to even things out we coined a new way to talk about bravery - ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’.

It’s important to point out that the phrase ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’ was positioned as being about a mindset, not just a physical attribute - hence the campaign prominently featured a woman who’s had a double mastectomy. She doesn’t have physical breasts, but she definitely has “boobs”.

For further context, prior to founding Stella Sam White looked at the small print on insurance contracts and found that most insurers will not pay out a claim if the car’s been damaged by someone known to the claimant. A large percentage of this cohort are victims of domestic abuse. It was just one of a vast array of insurance product points that didn’t add up for female drivers, who make up over half of road users.

In the film, we see a series of awesome, inspiring women taking on tough challenges in a range of professional, sporting and societal contexts. This includes a woman fleeing domestic abuse, a working mum, a motocross champion, a woman going through IVF, an amputee and a woman who’s had a double mastectomy. As they rise to the various challenges a voiceover reminds us that the language we use shapes the way we see the world. It talks about how society often equates being bold and courageous with having “balls”. As the film builds to an emotive crescendo, the VO points out that bravery isn’t an exclusively male domain. And it doesn’t just take “balls” to be brave, bold and audacious - ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’.

Stella Insurance was founded to change the game for women - in the insurance sector, in other male-dominated industries and in broader society. The company is about more than just selling policies, they want to make a positive impact on the world.

The brief was to spark debate, get people talking about the brand and considering switching their policies to Stella, while helping to balance society’s gender biases.

Wanting to highlight female courage and smarts, we began thinking about how gendered language - eg “chairman”, “fireman”, “man-made” - steers us to see the world in a certain way. And how the idea that being brave takes “balls” is a predominant cultural trope. Culture is over-run with examples of journalists, presenters, commentators, sportsmen - and women - using terms like “that took balls!”, “ballsy move” and so on. This led us to coin a new way to talk about bravery.

The film campaign ran in Australia in 2023 and will run in the UK in 2024. Full-page press ads ran in Marie Claire. OOH executions included bus-sides and huge digital superscreens at Westfield shopping centres. It also extended to a popular podcast.

• 239% increase in website traffic year-on-year.

• 43% increase in policies sold year-on-year.

• 89.5% increased in quotes requested year-on-year.

• Anecdotally, ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’ often mentioned in quote requests/interactions online.

• Overwhelming response online/in social media with countless notes/comments from women who feel seen/empowered by the campaign.

• The campaign is polarising: high volume of comments online - mostly from men - complaining about the campaign. Many of these are abusive but the Stella team have been trained in how to de-escalate diplomatically.

• Anecdotally, massive energy and positivity around ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’ when the Stella founder and leadership team attend meetings, conferences, pitches, etc.

The words we use shape the way we see the world. For example, phrases like “man up”, “don’t be a sissy” and “that’s so gay” were, at one point, acceptable and commonly used. But as society has progressed, as we’ve collectively thought about what they represent, they’ve become less/unacceptable. And think about how gendered language - eg “chairman”, “fireman”, “man-made” - steers us to see the world in a certain way.

The idea of something bold, brave and audacious taking “balls” reinforces a narrow way of thinking. We saw the opportunity to change the way people think about bravery, by changing the way we talk about it.