Scottish Widows appoints 21-year-old model to front campaign

Hayley Hunt, from Virginia Water in Surrey, was chosen after a nationwide hunt by agency Storm Models to front the campaign, created by Leo Burnett.

She will follow in the footsteps of Debbie Moore -- daughter of actor Roger Moore -- who starred in the very first Scottish Widows ad, "looking good", which resulted in name awareness of the brand rising from 30% to 86% within six weeks of its launch.

In 1994, Amanda Lamb took over the role with ads including "the maze" in 1994, "lights" in 1996, "change" in 1998, "in the black" in 2000, "brighter future" in 2002, and "show of confidence" in 2004.

Leo Burnett won the £5m Scottish Widows account at the end of 2004 after a pitch against HHCL/Red Cell, McCann Erickson and Wieden & Kennedy. It had previously been held for 20 years by Citigate Albert Frank.

Hunt will first appear in Scottish Widows' print ads photographed by David Bailey in September and television ads in 2006.

The campaign was created by Leo Burnett executive creative director Jim Thornton and creative director David Beverley. Naked developed the communication strategy.

Zed led the media buying, with Navigator handling direct mail, TeamSpirit working on IFA, channel marketing and website development, and Lansons Communications looking after PR.

Nathan Moss, managing director of marketing and distribution at Scottish Widows, said: "The 'widow' is a core part of our brand and customers hold her in high esteem. In the selection of a new widow we wanted to maintain this while also bringing a new, fresh feel to our icon."

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This article was first published on brandrepublic.com