Terminix Launches ‘The Best at Nixing Pests’ Campaign Featuring Rhys Darby

Five Humorous Spots from The Martin Agency Take Aim at Pests with “Flight of the Conchords” Celeb

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--It’s not every day that a brand wants to become synonymous with nixing, eliminating, eradicating, or getting rid of things, but that is exactly what Terminix wants to do in the brand’s new campaign. “The Best at Nixing Pests” is the first work stemming from the partnership with The Martin Agency and will feature five new spots that will air on TV and social media and in select markets beginning March 22, inspired by Terminix’s almost century-worth of expertise in nixing unwanted pests.

For almost 100 years, Terminix has been among the best in the world at nixing unwanted pests, and with this campaign the brand and agency aimed to create a campaign that helps make Terminix synonymous with the word “nix.” The creative team was also inspired by the insight that nearly three out of four residential consumers will not call an exterminator until they’ve initially tried to treat a pest issue themselves, rarely getting rid of the problem, often leading to DIY fails.

Known for his tenuous charm and tricky name, coupled with a New Zealand accent, the humorous campaign introduces fictional spokesperson, Rhys Darby who shows up in the middle of a series of DIY pest control mishaps reminding consumers that, “The Only Way to Nix It, Is to Terminix It.”

“We chose humor to grab attention and relatability to draw you in,” cited Martin Agency, Executive Creative Director, Ashley Marshall. “Martin was interested in taking on a category like pest control and a brand like Terminix because pests are unwelcome and scary. With Terminix, we are excited to use breakthrough creative to transform a category that no one wants to think about into one of the most talked about brands and sectors around.”

The five television and social spots titled Duplex, Tex Mex, Ex, Flex and Kicks each feature relatable, humorous “we’ve all been there” residential pest removal fails that pay off with the tagline, “The Only Way to Nix It Is to Terminix It.” For context, in Duplex the consumer sees a roach in the bathroom and inadvertently uses a highly flammable hair product and candle to rid the duplex of said roach, resulting in a fire.

With more consumers working remotely and children learning remotely from their homes in 2020, industry experts, analysts and government agencies have reported increased demand for residential pest management services, over the prior year. Since winning the business earlier this year, The Martin Agency has been tasked with continuing to drive growth with full-funnel creative—TV, performance marketing and digital—while leveraging Mediahub as the campaign’s media partner.

About Terminix:

Terminix Global Holdings (NYSE: TMX) is a leading provider of residential and commercial pest control. The company provides pest management services and protection against termites, mosquitoes, rodents and other pests. Headquartered in Memphis, Tenn., with more than 10,500 teammates and 2.8 million customers in 24 countries and territories, the company visits more than 50,000 homes and businesses every day. To learn more about Terminix, visit Terminix.com, or LinkedIn.com/company/terminix.

About The Martin Agency:

When Jimmy Kimmel, Ellen DeGeneres and Stephen Colbert spontaneously start talking about our clients; when our clients become a Jeopardy! clue and a Wheel of Fortune reveal—we consider it both a good day and all in a day’s work. And maybe a Hump Day, too. For us, conversation is a business metric. We’ve created steady buzz around GEICO, OREO, UPS, CarMax and Buffalo Wild Wings, to name a few. Our goal: fight invisibility, in everything we do. Martin was named Adweek’s 2020 Agency of the Year. www.martinagency.com.

About Mediahub:

Mediahub is a global media planning and buying company with over 900 employees worldwide. We’re an award-winning agency built for challenger brands or companies who are disrupting the status quo and want a media agency that disrupts the norms of media. Our smart and nimble organization consists of key verticals including I+A (Insight + Action comms group), P3 (programmatic, search and social group), and our creative media group, the R+D (Radical + Disruptive) Lab, which specializes in working with avant-garde media partners to develop ideas that consumers seek out, share and talk about.

Our partners include global brands such as Western Union, Netflix, Pinterest, Harley-Davidson, Dropbox, and Twitch, and big U.S. brands like Merz Pharma, Bloomin’ Brands, Royal Caribbean, JetBlue, Viacom, Match, Wyndham Hotels, New Balance, Patrón, Fox Sports and Fox Entertainment, Staples, Rémy Cointreau, Chipotle, Ulta Beauty, CENTURY 21, and Scotts Miracle-Gro. Mediahub was named Adweek’s 2018 U.S. Media Agency of the Year and Ad Age's 2019 and 2020 Media Agency of the Year.

Mediahub is one of the three major Interpublic media agencies (NYSE: IPG) and as a result is powered by the buying and intelligence power of Magna Global and the data and tech backbone of Kinesso.

For more information, visit us at www.mediahubww.com or follow Mediahub @MediahubWW.