Text in 3D style reading "Marine Protect" and "Direct Marketing" on a black background.

I wish all projects were like this. Collaboration. Client blessing. The right amount of budget without throwing it around. And just enough time. Just. Once again, NTI needed a new brand, overnight. They had an opportunity to get into the marine insurance business, and grabbed it by the horns. The project required secrecy and urgency. 50 Marine Insurance Brokers in the country needed to be presented with a direct mail piece. My thought was to demonstrate how valuable marine insurance is by showing the result of no marine insurance - as in the 1700s. 

A wooden object with a curved surface resembling a prop or decorative piece, with black lines and small metallic accents, placed on a black background.
Sketch of a wooden object resembling a shipwrecked coin mounted into wood, with notes explaining its features, including a curved side profile like a wooden hull, latching to be put onto lather straps, and shown with illustrations of the coin, the wood piece, and a rope for securing.

The concept was to produce a unique direct mail piece. A brochure, but unlike any brochure that’s ever been produced. One that resembles an old ship’s hull, even down to the binding from ship’s salvaged rope dipped in tar.

To set the time, as in the 1700’s, a time when marine insurance was unknown, a headline could’ve worked. But why not give a marine broker something they’ve more than likely never touched before. And to keep. An original ‘piece of eight’. A ship-wrecked coin. Sourced from a collector in New York, (50 pieces all from the one ship wreck, and embedded into the ‘cover’ of the book. The coins came from The São José, a Portuguese slave ship, wrecked near the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa in 1794. Destined for Brazil, the ship was carrying more than 400 slaves from Mozambique when it struck a rock and began to sink. The crew and some of those enslaved were able to make it safely to shore, but tragically, more than half of the enslaved people aboard died in the rough waters.

Definitely a unique piece. It set the tone for the rest of the brochure. Every headline was crafted and photographed underwater. Even the quotes of a poem featured throughout were projected onto sail cloth then photographed and set amongst the pages.

Close-up of a wooden book, with a ship-wrecked coin inserted into it. This is part of a Direct Mail project for Marine Protect.
An open section of a brochure showing sections with large text and images related to the Marine insurance industry. This is part of a Direct Mail project for Marine Protect.
An open section of a brochure showing a continuous wave made up of many different images of rough seas. This is part of a Direct Mail project for Marine Protect.
An open section of a brochure showing a page with the headline 'Covers your world'. This had been photographed underwater. This is part of a Direct Mail project for Marine Protect.
An open section of a brochure showing headline 'Buyers and Sellers' photographed underwater next to a warehouse scene with shelves filled with boxes. This is part of a Direct Mail project for Marine Protect.
An open section of a brochure displaying a collage of images, including a close-up of chained metal, shipping containers, and a yellow cargo container, against a black background. This is a Direct Mail project for Marine Protect.

Once the brokers went to the website, only then did they realise the relevance of this poem. It was the narration of the video. But to up the anti, The Hound from The Game of Thrones voiced the poem from his hideaway north of Edinburgh. (His current project on the side was renovating a 1950s boat).
Now, I’d love to take credit for this, but it was a suggestion from the client.
A fantastic call.

A wonderful project that demonstrated Marine Protect was not only a new player in the market, but a specialist overnight.

One spread that I love is the middle. It was all stock imagery, and it’s depicting the journey of your container. There could be rough seas ahead, but rest assured, it’ll reach you in the end. And if it doesn’t, at least you’re insured. The 5th image is a snow capped mountain that has become the wave story.

A 4 page fold-out of a brochure featuring a continuous wave of rough seas gradually becoming calm, made up of a collage of multiple images. This is part of a Direct Mail project for Marine Protect.
A 4 page fold-out of a brochure featuring a continuous wave of rough seas gradually becoming calm, made up of a collage of multiple images. This is part of a Direct Mail project for Marine Protect.