Swinton Taxi Division

Specialist taxi insurance company Swinton Taxi Division asked agency Red C to help increase calls and quotes, build customer relationships and gain an edge in this distress-purchase market.

It came up with the enigmatic character of the Mystery Tipper, a sultry lady in a trilby who gives £1,000 tips to cabbies displaying her sticker in cities around the UK .

Using an integrated campaign involving direct mail, trade press,  flyers, local radio and Facebook, it spread the message that to get a sticker, you had to request an insurance quote from Swinton. Existing customers on the database were also targeted to help trigger renewals. Trade press advertorials announced each £1,000 winner and gave the next tip location.

The campaign really understood its market, making the most of cabbies' use of word of mouth. By adding a human touch to searching for insurance, Swinton generated record sales, with quote calls rising by an impressive 30% in 2008. There was a further boost for this compelling campaign: it  won Gold in the Financial Services category at the 2008 DMA Awards.