IAG CMO Brent Smart says Help here for long-term, going national after NRMA dominates Effies, Monkeys clean up

News Plus 20 Oct 2021 - 2 min read

IAG CMO Brent Smart says Help here for long-term, going national after NRMA dominates Effies, Monkeys clean up

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IAG CMO Brent Smart: NRMA's Help platform has a long way to go yet.

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Tags: IAG NRMA Brent Smart The Monkeys Advertising Council Australia Effies brand building

IAG CMO Brent Smart said the insurer’s ‘Help’ platform has years of growth left in the tank after NRMA landed Australia’s most coveted prize for effective advertising. Now it's going national. Meanwhile, The Monkeys cleaned up.

What you need to know:

IAG CMO Brent Smart said NRMA's 'Help' brand platform, now four years old, is delivering greater growth with every year. Now he's taking it national and said it has plenty of gas left in the tank.
Help scooped top prize at the Effies, the cream of Australia's awards for the most effective advertising - i.e brand investment that drives growth.
NRMA's agency The Monkeys delivered an almost clean sweep of the top effectiveness awards.

IAG CMO Brent Smart said the insurer’s ‘Help’ platform has years of growth left in the tank after NRMA landed Australia’s most coveted prize for effective advertising.

Help won the Grand Effie and took two of the five gold awards – long-term effects and brand value.

“Help is not going anywhere. I see it as a very long idea, the very DNA of our brand,” Smart told Mi3. “Help will be going west – we launched NRMA Insurance in WA over the weekend via its iconic Telethon – with the full launch next month in WA and SA.”

Smart, who took his first CMO role at IAG in 2017 after two decades leading agencies in ANZ and the US, said landing the top prize was “a win for brand building” after a four-year build that has led the platform to become “more effective every year”.

Smart said the work has to date driven 30 months of positive customer growth, taken NRMA from Australia’s 36^th strongest brand in 2017 to third strongest in 2021 according to the Brand Finance Brand Strength Index, and delivered revenue growth of 4.3 per cent in FY 2021 for IAG’s Australian direct business, of which NRMA accounts for the majority of revenue.

“We set our ambition as a team to be the most effective advertiser in the country, I’m pinching myself that it’s actually happened. Thanks to our partners on this journey The Monkeys, we couldn’t have done it without you,” added Smart.

The Accenture Interactive-owned agency was the biggest winner at the awards with an almost clean sweep of the top gongs. Named Effective Agency of the Year, The Monkeys also landed four of the five golds, two silvers and a bronze for work for Beam Suntory and Meat & Livestock Australia as well as NRMA.

Tony Hale, CEO of Advertising Council Australia said the winners underlined that “great creative ideas can translate into outstanding commercial success stories.”

Despite Covid’s challenges, Hale added that Australia’s marketers and their creative agencies are “making sure every advertising dollar contributes to driving the bottom line”.

The gold Effie winners:

Insight & Strategic Thinking
CHE Proximity - Genea - Where babies come from

Outsmarting Covid
The Monkeys, UM & OGB - Meat & Livestock Australia – How Lamb reunited Australia after our most divided year ever

Brand Value
The Monkeys - NRMA Insurance - How reinventing ‘HELP’ added record value to the NRMA Insurance brand

Long Term Effects
The Monkeys - Beam Suntory - How long term brand building led to the 3 most successful years in Canadian Club history

The Monkeys - NRMA - How commitment to brand building drove one of the markets greatest comebacks

See the full list of winners here.