The marketing campaign that made South Africans get Naked everywhere

While most insurance companies tend to follow a traditional marketing approach, Naked has taken a different approach. It launched punchy billboards with word-play on the name Naked.

Naked Insurance was launched in 2018 by three actuaries: Alex Thomson, Sumarie Greybe and Ernest North.

A few years ago, they noticed that insurers struggled to remain relevant, particularly to younger consumers, because they were not effectively using technology.

Most companies were using out-of-date tech, making it very difficult for customers to have a smooth online experience.

Social media’s increasing popularity, technological developments, and the rise of fintech companies in South Africa have started to shift the market and how companies operate.

They saw an opportunity to re-engineer the entire value chain of insurance delivery. This included using data better, automating and enhancing self-serve, and improving the speed and convenience of their offering.

They built technology from scratch to deliver customers a quick, easy, and fun insurance experience. Clients could get a quote in under three minutes by answering a handful of questions.

At the time, online insurance was a new idea, and many customers were averse to it. However, the COVID-19 pandemic helped push people into the digital age, and Naked was well-positioned to benefit.

The company was also pushed forward by a $17 million (at the time, R306 million) series-B funding round from the International Finance Corporation and German development finance house DEG in 2023.

Naked described this as one of the largest-ever African InsurTech funding rounds. As they gained traction, marketing and scaling became increasingly important.

Today, many people may know Naked best for its marketing campaigns and attention-grabbing billboards, which feature phrases like “get naked on your roof” or “Thato got naked in the casino”.

The get Naked anywhere campaign

Naked launched over 150 unique billboards nationwide, each featuring a place or moment where someone “Got Naked”.

Billboards featured sayings like Tamryn got Naked at the hairdresser, Thabo got Naked at the traffic light, and Hannes got Naked at the potjie competition.

Ernest North, co-founder of Naked Insurance, told Daily Investor that the #GetNakedAnywhere campaign was inspired by real-world data of South Africans “getting Naked”.

“We looked at when and where people were buying insurance and identified the most common first names among our customers.”

“At the same time, we wanted to build on what we’ve become famous for with our billboards: bold, simple messaging that cuts through the clutter.”

The result, North said, was a personalised, fun campaign showing how easy it is to “get Naked”. In other words, it showed how easy it is to buy their insurance.

Customers could sign up for Naked anytime, anywhere, from coffee shops to rugby stadium​s and padel courts, at all times of the day or night.

“The response was overwhelmingly positive. People loved spotting their own names, or names of friends and family, as they scrolled through social media or on billboards while driving to a meeting.”

“The campaign quickly took on a life of its own, with people tagging friends, creating personalised billboard mock-ups, and even sparking a TikTok trend that generated well over 20 million organic views​.”

Within days of launching the campaign, hundreds of videos of users filming themselves driving past one of these billboards or making “name request” videos were on TikTok.

This was followed by tens of thousands of social media users leaving comments and asking Naked to put their names on billboards.

“We knew we were onto something when people started tagging friends in our Facebook ads and posting videos on TikTok asking to see their names on billboards.”

While most people scroll past ads as fast as possible, this campaign got people to pay attention and tag their friends in the comments.

“The flood of organic user-generated content, including thousands of TikTok comments and video shares, confirmed the campaign’s viral momentum​.”

“We even had celebrities and influencers requesting to see their names on billboards, and naturally, we did not hesitate to make it happen.”

This includes Gugulethu Mfuphi, an award-winning South African financial journalist, broadcaster, and corporate speaker.

In a Kaya Biz interview with North, she joked about Naked putting up a “Gugu got naked on the radio” billboard. Naked’s team, however, obliged the request and put up a billboard reading, “Gugu got Naked in the studio”.

Since Naked couldn’t put up 50,000 new billboards overnight to accommodate everyone’s name requests, they devised a different solution.

With the help of the creative studio Run Jump Fly, they built 15 editable billboard templates, which allowed them to generate hyper-realistic video billboards with any name on them.

Then, they collected every name from the TikTok comments and created personalised billboards for 600 of the most requested names. “I’m very proud of our in-house creative agency for hitting the nail on the head with this campaign.”

“We are grateful for the success we’ve had and how mainstream Naked has become and wanted to share a simple message of “everybody is getting Naked” – and if you’re not, you might be missing out.”

Relatable, purpose-driven marketing

North explained that the market is crowded with traditional insurers pushing similar messages. “Our priority is to clearly show that we’re not just another insurer but that we represent a new insurance category.”

“Because we are fundamentally different – from how we use technology to how we value transparency – our advertising needs to reflect that difference and make the audience feel that we’re not your typical insurer.”

That is why Naked’s marketing is relatable, customer-centric, and usually cheeky and fun, he said. They steer clear of traditional hard-sell tactics and instead aim to spark conversation.

“We also draw on real-life behaviours and local relevance to connect with South Africans in memorable ways​. We believe that this specific campaign works well because it’s relatable and personal without trying too hard.”

“Throughout the campaign, we continue to stick to a clear, repeatable idea that makes the campaign instantly recognisable.”

According to North, Naked wants its marketing to communicate to potential customers how effortless it is to get insurance from them.

“Our key message is that insurance with Naked is simple, fast, and easy – so much so that you can get covered anywhere, at any time, in under three minutes.”

“We want people to know that insurance doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming – and that with Naked, it’s fully digital – no call centres or paperwork required​.”

This approach has paid off for the company, translating into real business growth for the insurer. “Marketing has played a big role in building Naked’s brand, making it well-known, trusted, and loved.”

“By engaging with people in a fun, relevant way, we’ve been able to grow our customer base and drive awareness to become a household name in just a few years.”

North advised that young entrepreneurs and businesses should aim to create marketing that’s authentic, simple, and rooted in real customer behaviour.

“Make people feel part of something rather than being sold to. And most importantly, stay true to your brand purpose.”