What is AAMI’s new campaign really driving at?

The official line behind AAMI’s 2025 “Driving Test” campaign was to provide an “innovative and engaging way to encourage Australian drivers to adopt safer habits behind the wheel.” And at face value, it may look like the campaign’s lead creative exists simply to draw attention to a fun promotion that rewards Australia’s safest drivers through the insurer’s app.

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But looking beyond these immediate goals, the potential of AAMI’s latest campaign is far more wide-reaching. Rather than being solely aimed at driving short-term traffic to its app, the long play suggests that the real goal of “Driving Test” is to build and reinforce associations that AAMI, Australians, and driving all go hand-in-hand. And by delivering these broader ideas in a way that leaves AAMI firmly lodged in people’s heads, it gives the brand the best chance of being thought of when the time comes to choose an insurance provider—whether that’s now or 5 years down the track.

And the data from testing the ad among a nationally representative sample of Australians backs this up. In terms of the rational information communicated, many were unclear about what the new driving test app and competition entailed—leading to a weak takeaway that AAMI was offering prizes. In fact, only 1 in 3 stated a willingness to participate in the driving test. But in struggling to motivate people to immediately start using the AAMI app, should the ad be marked a bust? Well, to do that would be taking a very narrow view of effectiveness.

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Both amusement and irritation toward the storyline’s characters and humor worked in tandem to grab and sustain people’s attention throughout the 60-second spot, with emotions steadily building as the various groupings of drivers were pitted against each other (before tapering off as the “redheads” made their appearance.) While humor’s most common pitfall is the risk of getting a large proportion of your target audience offside, another less spoken about danger is deprioritizing the brand in the pursuit of a punchline.

Here, though, AAMI had no such issues. Yes, the high energy approach felt a little different to what people expected from the insurer (impacting strength of brand connection.) However, the ad was still able to keep the brand firmly in focus by deploying a number of ownable elements. From the recognizable voiceover to a trio of dependable branding devices (colors, characters, and of course the famous jingle), the ad remained uniquely ownable for AAMI—both at its emotional peak and conclusion.

So, rather than the promotional competition being the main takeaway of the creative, people were still able to link AAMI to the broader message about safe driving, leading to strong spontaneous impressions of AAMI caring about its customers. And here, the long-term benefits of the campaign came to the fore.

Whether 5 weeks, 5 months, or 5 years down the track, when the time ultimately comes for people to begin the search for a new car insurer, it won’t necessarily have been a fun little competition that caused AAMI to spring to mind first. Instead, it will be the insurer’s relentless commitment to building associations and mental links through highly memorable and unmistakably branded advertising.

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