Our creative idea was bold and audacious. We wanted to send the owners something that exemplified their need for an insurance company that protects their unique risk.

We realized that every day, bed and breakfasts have no choice but to invite strangers into their homes and we wanted to leverage that fact. So we asked ourselves, what is the one thing we could send them that unequivocally delivered BnB Sure’s message and the answer became obvious; their own stuff. But first we had to steal it.

So we booked a few rooms – masquerading as out-of-town guests – spent the night in their welcoming homes and when the time was right, stole an item of value. We brought the item back to our studio where we measured them up, designed custom Zurich packaging and sent them their stolen stuff back as our direct mailer.

To ensure the campaign worked, we had to return the package as fast as possible to eliminate any risk of alienating our audience.

Once a room was booked, the actors were briefed to use our Go-Pros and other cameras not uncommon during tourist visits. In the house, when the actor was sure they were alone, they began searching common areas until they found items of value and captured their mini-heists on film.

We brought each item back to our studio where we measured it, designed the custom packaging and delivered the item back to the rightful owner.

We interviewed certain owners for the basis of our case study video that we were then able to package and send on to a much wider audience.

The campaign has achieved outstanding results. Of the 945 targeted BnBs, our initial objective was 45 BnB meetings at a cost per response worth 10 months premiums. This campaign achieved 152 appointments at 16% for the brokers at a cost per response of only 3.5 months premiums, or an ROI savings for our client of 67.5%.

To launch the BnB Insurance product, it made sense to talk directly to bed and breakfast owners. In fact, we don’t think we could have spoken more directly to the owners than this. We initially targeted 20 local BnBs before widening the campaign to a further 945 BnBs around the country.

The strategy of collecting data and defining our target audience fell straight into the idea. The most successful BnBs have 2 things in common; they’re well marketed and easy to find. Using Tripadvisor and other online travel sites, we searched and found hundreds of bed and breakfasts that were ripe for the taking. All we had to do was book a night at their establishment and we had our targets.

We also, however, knew that we would never be able to stay at 945 bed and breakfasts and thus, to reach a much wider audience, we captured our 20 visits on film and sent the video, in targeted packaging, to the remaining 925 owners.

To achieve even better results, instead of a call to action, we followed up each delivery with a phone call and personally set up appointments for the Zurich brokers.

Situation: Zurich BnB Sure is the first insurance company in South Africa started by BnB owners, for BnB owners. Bed and breakfasts require a unique insurance solution; a hybrid between home and business insurance.

Brief: We were briefed to create a campaign that spoke directly to South African BnB owners and relaunch this niche product. The brief aimed to exemplify the unique risk they faced as well as deliver the unique offering of BnB Sure.

Objectives: Due to the high value of this type of B2B business, the campaign objective was to set up appointments between BnB owners and Zurich Insurance. The average direct mail response rate is between 2% (19) and 4.5% (43) according to the DMA. Our objective was to outperform the high-end of that number and deliver at least 45 Zurich Broker meetings. This was calculated at an average cost per response equal to 10 months premiums.