The Challenge
Centraal Beheer’s commercials are the longest running and most iconic advertising campaign in the Netherlands. Since 1986, over 60 commercials have made us laugh at the schadenfreude of others. Luckily, we are reminded that everything will be covered by the insurance company if you give them a quick call. Slogan: “Let’s just call Apeldoorn” For the first time and after 37 years, Centraal Beheer has changed its creative agency. And another thing has changed. The older generation still has a lot of brand love and still looks forward to these commercials. But Gen-Z and younger audiences didn’t grow up watching TV. Most of them are unaware of the CB commercials. And in an age where you can WhatsApp with customer service, the slogan “Let’s just call Apeldoorn” sounds outdated. We were tasked with the following creative brief: Create a campaign that continues the brand’s iconic legacy. It must attract the new and younger audience, and appeal to the older generation.
The Solution
We wanted to show that even when challenges, issues, and technology in society change the core of the insurance work remains the same. You are only one call, app, or message away from us. We made a twist on a classic scam. Scammers, pretending to be people’s biological children, send messages from unidentified phone numbers asking for a little money. “Dad, could you transfer a little money please? [link]” After clicking on the fraudulent link, the bank details will be stolen and the accounts emptied. In our campaign “Scammers” we flipped the script. A young guy travels solo through Thailand. A monkey steals his bag. With no money, no phone, and a story no one believes, he ends up in jail. The warden allows one single phone call. He chooses his parents. Of course they’ll help out. Why wouldn’t they? Halfway across the world, his parents stare at an unknown number, and hear a broken voice on the other end. Unable to identify the person, they do exactly what you expect from parents in 2025: they hang up the phone. It must be a scam. Their panicking son gets one last chance and sends one last message. Unfortunately, he chooses the wrong wording. “Dad, I’m in trouble. Could please transfer money?” This only confirms the parents’ suspicions as they block the phone number. We’re back in jail with the boy reflecting on his next step, as the well-known slogan appears on screen.