The AA launches “It's OK, I'm with The AA”, prioritising drivers

The Gate's first fully-integrated campaign embodies the optimistic, unshakeable confidence UK drivers can have when they are with The AA

By Creative Salon

17 July 2023

The AA, the UK’s leading driving services business, launches this week a new fully integrated marketing campaign, “It’s OK, I’m with the AA”.

After being appointed as its lead creative agency in December 2022, The Gate alongside lead media agency Goodstuff developed the campaign and evolved the communications and media strategy.

Since 1905, The AA has been committed to putting UK drivers first. A brand that has been a symbol and source of expertise and support for its members is now a pioneering, multi-service provider for the modern, ever-changing driving world. The AA ensures, reflected in a new brand line, that its members are ‘Always Ahead’ whether that is through learning superior driving skills for life, buying and selling second-hand cars with confidence, bossing your car’s maintenance or owning the unknown with award-winning insurance and the country’s most awarded Roadside Assistance fleet.

The campaign “It’s OK, I’m with the AA” embodies the optimistic, unshakeable confidence UK drivers can have when they are with The AA, now and for the future. It celebrates feeling confident in the face of moments that would faze you if you were not an AA member.

The campaign has one 60” and three 30” films. The 60” hero film, using humour to create stand-out, features a cast of AA members experiencing moments where they are confident no matter what happens, whether that’s a dad putting the wrong fuel in his car as his excited family waits to go on holiday, a patient faced by an X-ray revealing an unusually misplaced key, a learner driver navigating a swirling vortex or a dad gifting a new car to his son which promptly gets hit by a meteorite. These scenes are set to Chopin’s Waltz no 7. The films were directed by Si & Ad through Academy Films.

The campaign marks a dramatic shift for the AA, moving towards a Masterbrand-led platform and breaks nationwide today on TV and cinema. Radio, Print, OOH, Social and Digital channels will follow in a phased launch. The Gate, part of MSQ, developed the campaign which incorporates a new visual brand identity developed by MSQ’s Elmwood, along with the AA’s new distinctive sound asset produced by Sixième Son.

Lucas Peon, Chief Creative Officer of The Gate, said: “We wanted to bring to life the feeling of unshakeable confidence when you’ve got the AA on your side, no matter what happens, in a way that would be unmissable to drivers across the country.”

Will Harrison, Group Brand Director at The AA, said: “ From pitch to campaign delivery, the team at The Gate have always been 100% aligned on our brand opportunity and ambitions. We're all so excited to launch this new campaign as part of a larger 'Always Ahead' brand re-positioning to reflect the modern and relevant driving brand that we are, with a good dose of advertising swagger."

The Gate has won a number of new clients since the start of 2022 including SMARTY Mobile, Guide Dogs, The AA and, most recently, The Very Group. In the same time-frame it has also won a number of high profile industry awards at the EFFIE’s, APG and Marketing Society awards shows.