LiMu Emu and Doug ... and Liberty Biberty?
The menagerie of Liberty Mutual mascots just got a little bigger with the arrival of a round yellow sphere-like creature called “Liberty Biberty.” The puppet, crafted by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, gets its name from yet another Liberty Mutual mascot of sorts, a “bad actor” played by Tanner Novlan, who memorably flubbed the name of the insurance company that hired him.
Liberty Mutual has been using the oddball pairing of Doug and LiMu, the CGI emu, since 2019 — around the time Novlan helped coin the phrase “Liberty Biberty.” Both the LiMu and Liberty Biberty campaign concepts were crafted by New York-based ad gurus David Suarez and Danny Gonzalez; LiMu and Doug sprang to life while they worked for Goodby Silverstein & Partners, while Liberty Biberty came out of their new firm, Bandits & Friends.
“Puppets have a way of bringing joy and delight to an audience,” said Jenna Lebel, Boston-based Liberty Mutual’s chief marketing officer. “I think insurance can really use joy and delight.”
Lebel said the Liberty Biberty creature was a hit in the company’s focus groups. And you’ll be seeing a lot of Biberty on TV soon. Lebel expects about 40 to 50 percent of Liberty’s marketing dollars will go toward promoting ads featuring the new mascot. LiMu, Doug, and Novlan’s bad actor will still show up in ads as well, though usually not together.
Lebel said it doesn’t get confusing with yet another different campaign underway. Each has its own distinct role; now Liberty Mutual’s creative team simply has more flexibility to tell more stories.
Puppeteer Grant Baciocco gives Liberty Biberty his voice, and movements. The first TV ads featuring the creature were shot in March.
“I’ve tried my hand at puppeteering,” Lebel said. “I’m going to stick to my day job.”
This is an installment of our weekly Bold Types column about the movers and shakers on Boston’s business scene.
Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com. Follow him @jonchesto.