Volkswagen | Trailer Assist

BRAND:

VW

CATEGORY:

Automotive

REGION:

Norway

DATE:

January - March 2016

AGENCY:

MediaCom

MEDIA CHANNEL:

Branded Content,Online

Insight 

The market for large family cars is very competitive, and the launch of the new Passat was somewhat a challenge, as the design was not indicating this was a completely new car. 

Advanced driving assist systems, though, are main features in the new Passat including Trailer Assist. The optional Trailer Assist steers automatically while the driver is still responsible for gear shifting, acceleration and braking.  

The target audience was adult men with a family and the need for a roomy car, which often also means from time to time a need of a trailer. Passat is segment leader among family cars, and most of them are equipped with a trailer hitch. 

The agency also build on one basic insight: Most people find it difficult to reverse with a trailer and hate to do it. A system that will help them out will obviously create attention. However, MediaCom needed to demonstrate it in an exceptional way, to ensure that the target group would find it worthwhile seeing and sharing. 

Since social media to a large degree is about entertainment, and surprising videos always create a large number of viewers and involvement it decided to move along that path. 

This gave MediaCom the communication strategy and the idea for the campaign. 

Strategy 

The fight for attention is hard even for entertaining video content. MediaCom believed it had content with a potential for sharing, but in order to make it happen it had it to get it right from the start, and decided to make the content look less like a commercial thus increasing the potential for sharing. 

Most importantly it decided to focus its paid digital media towards young adult men even though the average car buyer is 40 years +. By targeting influencers rather than the actual car buyer, it expected to achieve far higher sharing and thus organic views of the video, and the car buyers would get the video from their younger colleagues and children rather than from Volkswagen directly.  

Even though it was tempting to use TV from the start, the agency decided to place TV at the end of the campaign period, to create as many organic views as possible before launching the TV ad. 

At the start it sponsored Facebook posts and placed the video on selected sites in the BeOn network. It made the content easy to share and used YouTube as the hub for organic viewing and sharing.  

The content lived up to its potential and was shared even faster than assumed. This gave a good story to use in PR, and the 250 online articles in 46 countries further increased the engagement. 

Execution 

The creative solution was to perform a stunt where the agency wanted to demonstrate an exceptional maneuvering with a trailer in reverse at high speed.  

In ordinary streets and along ordinary roads where the public should believe they observed a 100% real reverse driving with a trailer.  

In order for the illusion to be realistic, it built a trailer around a car, which it stripped for the body. This way it allowed the “trailer” to reverse with a new Passat, giving the illusion that the Passat was reversing. 

Stuntmen drove the trailer and the car and everything was recorded on video, which gave two films: One that shows the actual stunt and one behind-the-scenes film. Both produced primarily for the use in social media. 

Results 

The campaign reached the following global results initiated from a country with only five million people: 

• Created a Facebook reach of more than 55 million,  • Achieved more than 28 million video views so far, 69% of these were organic. • The videos were watched in 125 different countries • Close to 1,800,000 engagements with the campaign: - 1.190.000 likes - 470.000 shares - 133.000 comments. 

• Reached 2.4 million views on YouTube, all of these were organic • The stunt was described in more than 250 online articles in more than 46 countries with more than 396 million potential readers • The campaign was launched in a post diesel gate atmosphere with a lot of negative buzz around the brand, and managed to break the negative curve • The sale of Volkswagen Passat in Norway increased 15% the following month.

Maoam mixer

This is an excellent example of a seamless online-offline integration achieved with an accessible game mechanic.

Maoam uncovered a sticky situation surrounding the name of its chewy sweets. Children weren't choosing or asking for the brand as they were unsure how it should be pronounced. The Maoam brand has been around since the early 1930s, so rather than change the name, Maoam opted for a campaign that would allow children to recognise the word 'Maoam' and let them play with its unusual sound.

Kids could play the Maoam Mixer online via Facebook, or download it from the iTunes store for the iPad. The Maoam Mixer also took to the road on a tour of shopping centres around the country, bringing the app to life in a live competition environment.

The bright colours and cartoon graphics that appear on packets of Maoam sweets disguise the fact that children have been enjoying the fruit flavour chews since the 1930s. Although acquired by Haribo in the mid-1980s, the Maoam brand name was retained and is still a popular confectionary across Europe, especially in its native Germany.

Haribo become a popular and easily recognisable brand and in the UK is almost synonymous for any kind of gummy sweet, but Maoam has struggled to achieve the same connection with consumers.

What's in a name?

Insight revealed that children were choosing other sweet brands over Maoam as they were unsure of how to pronounce the name when asking for it. Rather than go through the time and expense of changing the brand name, Maoam decided to launch a campaign that would educate children how to pronounce the name, let them have fun with the word and raise the brand's social media profile.

Maoam: The game

Maoam Mixer, a game that helped children play with the brand name was designed and became the central pillar of a campaign that would combine online and real world activity. The game allowed children to create a track featuring different expressions of the word 'Maoam'. These could be enhanced with animal noises, percussion, musical stings and other sound effects. The app, hosted on Facebook, allowed users to create their own Maoam avatar, play the mixer and post their finished track on their Facebook profile.

Each week, ten mixes from the Facebook app were selected to win prizes. One winner took home an iPad2, with goody bags for the other nine.

A downloadable version of the app was made available through Apple's iTunes store.

Maoam roadshow

Two experiential hit squads travelled the country over a period of 10 weeks in branded 4x4 vehicles delivering samples in city centres, local attractions etc.  They delivered Maoam Giant Strawberry stripes along with relevant messaging, literature etc pointing the consumer to the Maoam Mixer app on Facebook.

This street-sampling ran in conjunction with the Maoam Mixer Experience Tour - a 6x6m stand that resembled a giant stereo that visited major shopping centres across the country.  This offered an extended brand experience and allowed consumers to try out the Maoam Mixer app on iPad stations via their Facebook pages, or they could try their skills on the competition stage where two wannabe DJs went head-to-head on Maoam Mixer touch-screens to create the most popular mix track. The stand was designed to be very bright, colourful and an engaging space for children. Experienced staff and an MC were on hand to make guide the brand experience.

Results

The Maoam sampling campaign was extended due to its early success. The sampling target was increased from 800,00 to 1,052,000 packs.

As of September 2011, the Maoam UK Facebook page has 432,594 fans, which represents an approximate 20% growth over the past six months.

The app was made available on the iTunes store 14/9/11.

Facebook records the Maoam Mixer as having nearly 12,000 monthly active users.

Social baker figures indicate that the Maoam Facebook page acquired more than 5,500 fans in the first two weeks of September 2011.

Links

Maoam Mixer Facebook App

Maoam Mixer on iTunes

BRAND:

Maoam

BRAND OWNER:

Haribo GmbH & Co. KG

CATEGORIES:

Confectionery/Snacks

Food

REGION:

United Kingdom

DATE:

July 2011 - ongoing

AGENCIES:

i2i Marketing

Crab Creative

Jack & Jones Fitness Club

Using sex to sell isn't innovative, but the clever addition of a VIP club to persuade even casual viewers to submit personal information takes advantage of the viral potential of the site.

A campaign that uses overtly sexual imagery to drive consumer engagement. It isn't big, and it isn't clever, but this online fitness studio that promotes the spring/summer collection from men's fashion brand Jack & Jones provides hours of entertainment.

Jack & Jones is a brand for the fashion-conscious man about town. Positioned toward the premium end of the crowded high street category, it's important for a brand like J&J to keep men interested. Unsurprising then, that J&J decided the best course of action was to treat the boys to a pretty lady who would cavort about on their computer screens.

Visitors to the Jack & Jones Fitness studio first of all choose their look from the collections on offer. Based on the premise of teach the user some exercises that will help get them in the best shape to show off their new outfit, a helpful gym instructor shows the lucky online shopper some helpful moves. In her pants.

The premise is simple, slightly ridiculous but excellently realised digitally.

Visitors who want to see more can visit the VIP club, with the promise of more gym class demonstrations. A pass to the VIP club can be obtained by purchasing product or submitting some personal details to a mailing list.

Once in the VIP section, the Jack & Jones instructor offers classes in skipping, pole dancing and trampolining.  As an extra treat, the viewer can switch on options, such as slow-motion or water, to add to the experience.

An associated Jack & Jones Fitness Studio iPhone app replicates the experience for mobile, helping users to "get in shape and ready for action".

BRAND:Jack & Jones

BRAND OWNER:Bestseller A/S

CATEGORY:Accessories/Clothing/Footwear

REGION:DenmarkFinlandGermanyThe NetherlandsNorwaySwedenUnited Kingdom

DATE:June 2011 - ongoing