The archive · Advertising · Marketing decision · 2022–2023
Partners Life resurrects TV murder victims to sell life insurance — Cannes Grand Prix
Dead characters from New Zealand's top murder mystery wake before the credits to regret having no life insurance — 59% reach, Cannes Grand Prix.
Partners Life
What it had to solve
New Zealand is one of the most under-insured countries in the world: only 29% of New Zealanders hold life insurance versus 71% of Singaporeans, and Partners Life sells through 1,700 independent advisers who need customers already willing to consider the brand. The category problem was avoidance — people will not engage with life insurance because they will not engage with death.
How it works
New Zealand is one of the most under-insured countries in the world: only 29% of New Zealanders hold life insurance, against 71% of Singaporeans. Partners Life sells through 1,700 independent advisers, so its communications had to make customers aware of the brand and willing to consider it before an adviser ever called. The strategic problem was avoidance — people will not engage with life insurance because they will not engage with death itself.
Special New Zealand spotted one exception: New Zealanders happily consume death as entertainment in murder mysteries, true-crime podcasts and dark comedies. So instead of advertising to people avoiding the subject, the agency went where death was already being watched — The Brokenwood Mysteries, the country's most popular whodunnit. After each of six episodes, a bespoke 30-second spot brought that episode's murdered character back to life before the credits, using the same actors, sets and crew, to voice hindsight about leaving family unprotected and urge viewers to 'get life right'.
The integration worked as effectiveness, not just craft: the message reached 59% of New Zealanders, brand awareness rose six points to 29% — its highest level in three years — consideration rose five points, and the share of New Zealanders who believed life insurance was important rose twelve points. Managing director Naomi Ballantyne described the goal as jolting Kiwis out of apathy toward the category.
The campaign swept the 2023 award season, headlined by the Cannes Lions Health & Wellness Grand Prix and a WARC Awards for Effectiveness Grand Prix, plus a London International Awards Gold and further Lions across craft categories. The agency later noted the idea had died and been revived several times over two years — an innovative client willing to let advertising inhabit a television show was what finally let the dead speak.
Why it lands
- The campaign placed the message where the audience already felt the subject: entertainment about death, rather than an interruption asking people to think about it.
- Using the show's own characters, actors, sets and crew made the spots indistinguishable from the episode, so the sell was received as part of the story.
- Dead characters are the only spokespeople who can speak from hindsight — the creative idea itself supplied the proof of why insurance matters.
- The client sold through 1,700 independent advisers, so the campaign focused on awareness and consideration, metrics that rose measurably.
What it did
The message reached 59% of New Zealanders; brand awareness rose six points to 29%, its highest score in three years; consideration rose five points and the share of Kiwis who saw life insurance as important rose twelve points. The campaign took the Cannes Lions Health & Wellness Grand Prix and a WARC Awards for Effectiveness Grand Prix in 2023.
What you can take
Put the message where the audience already feels the subject: rather than interrupt entertainment to talk about death, become part of the show — only the dead can speak from hindsight.
Since then
The campaign became one of the most decorated pieces of Australasian work of 2023, collecting further Cannes Lions, a WARC Awards for Effectiveness Grand Prix and a London International Awards Gold for Special Auckland. The team had planned to license the format to insurers in other markets — only the logo would change — but the season rollout left no time, a regret its own protagonists would have understood.
Sources
- London International Awards 2023 winner entry: The Last Performance
- The Last Performance: What Made This Grand Prix Winning Spot So Special?
- Innovative content integration sees Special bring back the dead for Partners Life
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