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Aviva Downton Abbey Twitter

Aviva comments on Twitter response to new idents

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By The Drum Team, Editorial

September 19, 2011 | 2 min read

Aviva has responded to the Twitter comments following the launch of its income protection idents yesterday as part of its sponsorship of Downton Abbey.

The idents were blasted by several Twitter users, who made comments such as ‘Loved Downton Abbey last night (shame about awful Aviva ads: I'm all for real stories but even real stories need a bit of dramatisation).’ and ‘The Aviva sponsorship of Downton Abbey are so bloody depressing for a show that's meant to be entertaining. Poorly thought out strategy.’

Responding to this, Sue Helmont, head of brand at Aviva, told The Drum: ““We gave great consideration to the subject matter before we launched this campaign and we are reviewing with interest all comments about our idents.

“We are aware that the approach we’ve taken is a bit different to the norm. The stories were chosen specifically to show how the lives of everyday people can suddenly take a dramatic turn, but that financial support can help in their hour of need.

“The first series of idents shown last night cover the story of Gary, an Aviva income protection customer. Gary sustained serious injuries in a motorcycle accident which meant that he could no longer continue to do his job as an engineer. His policy provided him with an income while he was unable to work and enabled him to retrain for another profession, while continuing to receive an income from Aviva.

“As Gary’s story builds in the coming weeks, viewers will see the positive outcome of his experience.

“We worked very closely with Gary to ensure that his case was handled as sensitively as possible, with the care and consideration people expect from Aviva.”

Aviva Downton Abbey Twitter

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