Sunday 15 March 2009

Churchill- Lucas the Bulldog!

The current Churchill mascot was the product of a staff competition designed to identify ways to differentiate the Churchill brand from Winston Churchill. In the summer of 1994, staff were invited to suggest a brand character that would do just that and the Churchill bulldog was born.



A real bulldog called Lucas was first used in the company’s advertising in October 1994 and less than two years later, the Nodding Dog brand was born. The star of his own TV ads, Churchill the computer-animated nodding bulldog plays a big role in all of Churchill’s advertising and is now synonymous with the brand name; his catchphrase, in response to those who ask if he can save them money on insurance, is a cheerful "Oh yes!". He was originally voiced by Bob Mortimer, responding to voice-overs by Mortimer's comedy partner Vic Reeves.



Please let me know if you need any further information.


Regards,

Wendy



Wendy Instrell
Churchill Brand Manager,
RBS Insurance
Churchill Court
Westmoreland Road
Bromley BR1 1DP
(Depot Code 023 - Mailpoint 43)
Email: wendy.instrell@churchill.com

Fox's Bisquits

The mafia panda was chosen for our new advertising precisely because he doesn’t fit with consumers’ expectations. The brief that we gave the agency ( our advertising agency is Mother, in London ) was to come up with a campaign that could shift consumers’ perceptions of Fox’s as being a) old-fashioned, b) traditional and c) a bit dull. So that is why they deliberately created a character that would be modern, unusual and quite brash. All the results so far suggest that the approach is working – we’ve had lots and lots of emails about Vinnie and his love of bisquits – and it’s clear that he’s connecting well with all kinds of people !

The agency actually made a further point on this – their view was that if we’d chosen a character more readily identifiable with Fox’s ( ie British or a Fox ! ) then people would be more likely to see it as a brand spokesperson – and therefore less likely to trust what he says. By making the character very different to perceptions of the company then people are more likely to see it as independent and therefore more trustworthy.

I hope that helps

Regards

Jim Procter-Blain
SENIOR BRAND MANAGER