The AA’s Smallest Hero Is Making Its Breakdown Stories More Human

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. For drivers, seeing the amber flashing lights coming to the rescue to get them back on the road brings a feeling of happiness, security, and relief. For the patrol drivers, helping drivers in their moment of need is what they do, day in day out.

With over 14 million members, the organisation has no shortage of everyday breakdown disasters and stories to tell. These are often emotional experiences, but its marketing aims to bring light and humour to such misadventures.

Its latest campaign features the tale of Pinky the hamster, created by The Gate. It is a heartfelt approach to its storytelling, where one tiny critter's moment of need shines a light on the patrols who go above and beyond to be there for their members. It’s a family emergency for a little girl with a much-loved pet.

This campaign aims to connect with audiences more deeply with its story arc than with previous work, yet still continues to create the feel-good resolution that the brand is known for conveying. Using inspiration from real life stories and experiences from more than 2,000 patrols on the road, Pinky brings a relatability to the everyday driver and highlights The AA’s mission, to always be ahead.

The campaign, which is part of the Its Ok, I’m With The AA platform, moves towards a more meaningful territory in its established creative partnership with The Gate. They are working together to create work that leaves more of a lasting impression explains Sarah Fuller, CMO at The AA and Lucas Peon, chief creative officer while retaining the core idea that ‘It’s Ok’.

From Humour To Heart

Knowing that the majority of the UK can complete that line, Fuller knew there was something there to build on in a way that really connects with customers. Going out on ride-alongs with patrol drivers and experiencing seven different moments in people's lives created the drive to bring that feeling to life, whilst keeping the same confidence, warmth and humour in the story.

“The patrols are experts, but they also have the mantra: 'Fix the person, then fix the car.' That human care is what our people are out there doing on the road, day in, day out," she says.

From that perspective, it became clear to Peon the main challenge was to move the campaign in that direction, from humour to heartfelt, without losing the well-loved tone of previous campaign work. “We knew it was going to make the stories more meaningful, more relatable and more memorable," he explains.

That was a major new step the brand was looking for.

Making Stories More Human

Moving away from the recent use of fantastical stories featuring vampires, dinosaurs, and meteorites, and instead using the power of deeper insights was exactly what Peon was looking for. He says there’s still space to feature purposeful humour within those moments, it’s just been placed within a more real and human territory. The story arc, he says, is more complex and strategically created and crafted.

Fuller adds “Humour is part of the AA’s DNA”, while emphasising how good the patrols are at the breakdowns they attend. She says "We want to protect that warm, situational humour.”

Anchoring back on the Its Ok ideology, this new direction beginning with Pinky brings that confidence in a slightly different way.

Bringing Pinky To Life

As with all campaigns, various scenarios were devised, including one based on a true story where a pilot breaks down and the patrol gets permission to drive him right up to the plane, but Fuller says that Pinky's story felt the most relatable.

Peon says that what made the chosen story most interesting was the amount of depth it could carry around one little animal. And with that, using extreme wide angles to showcase the car in the middle of nowhere, the purpose was to create that vast contrast with the hamster and his owner's own story. “Every single shot was designed to find those different tones and make the best possible use of every second we had on screen," he says.

Bringing Pinky to life involved a mix of real hamsters, including John-Claude Van Ham and Jason State-Ham and puppetry to create his more elaborate moments.

An Idea Built To Last

Peon talks about how great it is to still see people recognising the Its Ok platform and how important it is to have ideas that you can execute for a long time. This leaned into The Gate’s elastic ideas, learning that with a deeper story like Pinky, can really be stretched and held more than initially wanted. He says “Every brand wants a line like this, and I think we’re lucky to be able to build it stronger with every iteration of the campaign.”

Having an idea being strong at its core and so attributable to the brand that you can execute it in a way that is true to each channel, is what Peon believes Pinky has proven. He says the elastic idea gives the flexibility to create the stories they need, and gives the brand more depth and warmth. It enables the idea to keep being interesting for audiences and to continue to build on the idea that summarises exactly what the brand promise and benefit are.

Continuing the legacy

Receiving a letter from a customer expressing their love for Pinky is a moment, Fuller says, that doesn't happen very often. So far, she is pleased with the response and the feedback from audiences, members, and patrols, has been positive, such as receiving an Exceptional rating from System 1 – an early signal that the work will create growth for The AA.

Having a widely recognisable platform allows the brand, as Fuller explains, to continue building and showcasing the brand's whole range of products and services from breakdown to car servicing and repair. She says that The AA’s care and expertise are what really drive of confidence for members, beyond breakdown situations.

Peon says that for the future, expect The AA to keep on surprising with more already set to come on this platform. And Fuller adds that when there is a strong creative idea that is about the emotional benefit of a brand. That brand focus, she says, gives them the freedom to keep reinventing it. “So, in a nutshell: expect the unexpected.”