Yesterday, DDB Canada and Tribal DDB’s Vancouver office revealed the first integrated campaign it’s created for Pacific Blue Cross since being named the insurer’s AOR in April.

The initiative took shape after the commissioning of an Omnibus survey of BC residents identified a dearth of knowledge about sellers of extended health insurance. With creative by the DDB team and media planning and buys by OMD Canada, the campaign includes TV, OOH, direct mail and online components and is aimed at raising awareness about the benefits of acquiring extended health coverage.

The integrated, multi-lingual campaign consists of two 30-second TV spots, ‘Metal Shop’ and ‘Elevator.’ Both depict characters ironically discussing other types of insurance coverage while obliviously placing their lives in danger – followed by the tagline: ‘Are you covered?’ Both spots broke in BC yesterday for a five-week flight on Global, CBC, CTV, Vancouver’s M-Channel, CITY-TV and A-Channel.

The direct mail component (pictured) picks up on the look and feel of the TV creative. First, an image depicts the POV of a person whose sudden collapse has attracted a crowd of onlookers. The image then shifts to reveal the injured person holding up a membership card from Pacific Blue Cross, suggesting that having the foresight to buy additional health coverage turned out to be wise, given these circumstances. Several thousand DM pieces will be sent to households across BC this spring and again in the fall.

Online, flash ads will appear on such consumer sites as Everydayhealth.com and MochaSofa.com, as well as on various search engine sites.