Auto maintenance chain Kwik Fit, forever associated with the 1980s earworm jingle of “You Can’t Get Quicker than a Kwik Fit Fitter”, is showing its caring side with the launch of a new nationwide campaign that aims to shine a spotlight on mental wellbeing and inspire action from its customers.
“Kwik Chat” has been devised by VCCP and stems from the insight that 1 in 3 UK adults prefer not to discuss their mental health, with 40% of men having never spoken to anyone about it.
Performing over one million MOTs and services annually across 650 centres, Kwik Fit sees one million chances to support mental wellbeing simply by encouraging customers to start a conversation with a loved one. As a staple on high streets nationwide, Kwik Fit believes it is in a unique position to turn routine waiting time into meaningful connection.
Directed by Mike Upson through production company MindsEye, in collaboration with VCCP’s global content creation studio Girl&Bear, the 60″ film encourages Kwik Fit customers to turn the ‘dead time’ of waiting for their cars to be serviced into a dedicated moment for mental maintenance.
The film features a Kwik Fit technician gliding through the garage and waiting room on a mechanic’s trolley, stopping at different customers to deliver a message directly to the camera about taking time to have a “Kwik Chat”.
By using deadpan humour to talk about a serious subject matter, the campaign aims to reframe the brand’s purpose of keeping Britain’s drivers safe and happy and applies it to mental wellbeing in an accessible, approachable way.
The campaign was ideated by VCCP creative directors Dipesh Mistry and Drew Haselhurst, alongside creatives Olivia Keable and Rob West, and builds on the award-winning “Drive away happy every time” brand platform developed and strengthened over the last six years.
The activity extends across the entire customer journey, supported by Kwik Fit’s owned channels. These include posters and leaflets which will feature in waiting rooms, custom audio advertisements which will play in customer waiting rooms and inspire people to pick up the phone, staff posters and manager communications, and a selection of centre-proximity billboards.
With £1m in ITV commercial airtime having been awarded from ITV’s ‘Head First’ award, the campaign will span UK TV to deliver the message nationwide and inspire drivers of Britain to take action. It will be supported across social, centre radio, and centre OOH.
Kwik Fit head of retail marketing Tom Gentle said: “At Kwik Fit we are experts on car maintenance, not mental health specialists – we’re simply nudging people to call someone they care about whilst we look after their car. Our nationwide footprint means we can do this at scale, and do our bit towards improving the mental wellbeing of our customers and the people they’re close to.”
VCCP creative director Dipesh Mistry added: “It’s rare you get to make work that sneaks into everyday culture and leaves people’s heads in a better state than we found them. Using comedy to tackle a subject like mental health lets us land a serious message without being heavy-handed. If we can fix a tyre and a mood at the same time, I’d call that a decent day at the office.”
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