The work used a series of channels to drive a single theme, all unified by a single provocative, sticky phrase that summed up our message that bravery isn’t an exclusively male trait. The three bold words ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’ ran everywhere from our films to press ads to radio ads to huge supersize posters in shopping centres to social media channels. It extended to an ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’ podcast which shines a light on stories of female trailblazers who embody courage, grit and resilience from all walks of life.

Stella Insurance was founded to change the game for women - in the insurance sector, in other male-dominated industries and in broader society. The company is about more than just selling policies, they want to make a positive impact on the world.

The brief was to spark debate, get people talking about the brand and considering switching their policies to Stella, while helping to balance society’s gender biases.

Wanting to highlight female courage and smarts, we began thinking about how gendered language - eg “chairman”, “fireman”, “man-made” - steers us to see the world in a certain way. And how the idea that being brave takes “balls” is a predominant cultural trope. Culture is over-run with examples of journalists, presenters, commentators, sportsmen - and women - using terms like “that took balls!”, “ballsy move” and so on. This led us to coin a new way to talk about bravery.

In predominantly English-speaking societies, the concept of courage and bravery is commonly described as someone having “balls”. Even females who demonstrate bravery are said to have “balls”.

Western culture is over-run with examples of journalists, presenters, commentators, sportsmen - and women - using terms like “that took balls!”, “ballsy move” and “wow, he’s got some serious balls” and so on.

Knowing that language shapes the way we see the world, and that half of the humans on the planet don’t actually have testicles, to even things out we coined a new way to talk about bravery - ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’.

It’s important to point out that the phrase ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’ was positioned as being about a mindset, not just a physical attribute - hence the campaign prominently featured a woman who’s had a double mastectomy. She doesn’t have physical breasts, but she definitely has “boobs”.

For further context, prior to founding Stella Sam White looked at the small print on insurance contracts and found that most insurers will not pay out a claim if the car’s been damaged by someone known to the claimant. A large percentage of this cohort are victims of domestic abuse. It was just one of a vast array of insurance product points that didn’t add up for female drivers, who make up over half of road users.

We celebrated female courage, smarts and audacity by showing a diverse range of awesome women across a range of professional and societal contexts. Including a woman fleeing domestic abuse, a working mum, a motocross champion, a woman going through IVF, an amputee and a woman who’s had a double mastectomy. The idea was to highlight feats of everyday boldness and bravery and tie them to the catchy, provocative phrase ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’.

Our approach was to highlight Stella’s stance on gender equality, and demonstrate our credentials beyond price. To create a passionate, loyal customer base who not only buy Stella products, but also feel even more empowered to call for equality in society.

We targeted all women of driving age. Specifically:

•Young single females: 25-35, single, working – generally full time.

•‘Establishing a family’ females: 30-45, generally in a relationship, young family.

•‘Mature family’ female: 40-60, generally in a relationship, mature family, generally higher income bracket, working part-time.

Research showed that modern Australian women are hardworking, well-educated (40% have a Bachelor Degree or Higher Degree) and passionate about social causes. They are 12% more likely to be loyal to brands that support worthy causes – and 66% would switch from a product they typically buy, to a product from a purpose-driven company. This goes up to 91% when Millennials were asked.

The campaign ran in Australia in 2023 and is due to run in the UK in 2024. It runs across a full range of media, from a 60 and 30-second films for TV and BVOD, 15-second cutdowns and an individual 6-second cutdown for each featured woman. The campaign also included full-page press ads which ran in Marie Claire magazine, radio and a wide range of OOH executions including full bus-sides and huge digital Superscreens at Westfield shopping centres. It extended to a popular podcast, presented by Tarla Lambert, which shines a light on stories of female trailblazers who embody courage, grit and resilience from all walks of life.

• 239% increase in website traffic year-on-year.

• 43% increase in policies sold year-on-year.

• 89.5% increased in quotes requested year-on-year.

• Anecdotally, ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’ often mentioned in quote requests/interactions online.

• Overwhelming response online/in social media with countless notes/comments from women who feel seen/empowered by the campaign.

• The campaign is polarising: high volume of comments online - mostly from men - complaining about the campaign. Many of these are abusive but Stella team have been trained in how to de-escalate diplomatically.

• Anecdotally, massive energy and positivity around ‘IT TAKES BOOBS’ when the Stella founder and leadership team attend meetings, conferences, pitches, etc.