Insurance Australia Group's (IAG) NRMA Insurance (NRMA) has revisited the “Black Summer” bushfires that occurred in 2019 to 2020 by releasing a film and a book.
The film, called “A Fire Inside,” focuses on the volunteers who helped fight the bushfires, including former New South Wales Rural Fire Service (RFS) commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons, who was also featured in the book.
Nick Worthington, currently the executive creative director at Colenso BBDO Auckland, wrote the film as the company joined the project along with Tuesday Club, another company founded by Worthington. The project was also developed in partnership with the philanthropic organisation Minderoo Foundation.
NRMA Insurance director of content and customer engagement, Zara Curtis, who is also an executive producer for “A Fire Inside,” said the initiative celebrates ordinary people who possess a “fire” inside – the desire to help.
“We aimed to showcase the way every Australian responded, through stories of help, that will change the way you think about yourself and renew your faith in humanity,” Curtis said, as reported by Mumbrella.
“As an insurer, we see first-hand the heartbreaking impact of natural disasters on our customers and their communities,” she added. “NRMA Insurance has a long history of working with communities on a range of action-orientated programs that inspire people to proactively prepare for future climate disasters. ‘A Fire Inside’ is our most ambitious program of them all.”
Worthington added: “The process of researching, writing, and making the film and book renewed our faith in humanity; it also renewed my faith in the future of purpose-led brands. A serious film, a serious book, and a serious chance to change the culture and connect NRMA Insurance's belief in the power of help with the actions and beliefs of a whole nation. It takes a brave marketer like Brent Smart and his team, and it was a privilege to be a part of it.”
This is not the first time that NRMA has addressed Australia's bushfires via media. Last year, it released an advertisement on television that showed some of the country's bushfires and featured footage and voiceovers of firefighters taking on the blaze.
However, the ad received several complaints, with some reaching Australia's Ad Standards community panel, forcing the insurer to pull out the ad.
Despite the unsuccessful bushfire campaign in 2020, NRMA successfully launched the “Help Like No One Else” campaign in July 2021, featuring the stories of “dedicated NRMA Insurance employees who help customers each day” despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, another campaign launched in 2021, NRMA's “Every Home Is Worth Protecting” ad featured animal home conservation.
