| Title | MBOARD PROJECT |
| Brand | MERCEDES-BENZ |
| Product/Service | MERCEDES-BENZ |
| Category |
A01. USE OF PROMOTIONAL STUNTS/ LIVE ADVERTISING/ LIVE SHOWS / CONCERTS & FESTIVALS |
|
Entrant Company
|
BBDO PORTUGAL Lisbon, PORTUGAL
|
|
Advertising Agency
|
BBDO PORTUGAL Lisbon, PORTUGAL
|
Credits
| Rui Silva/Marco Pacheco |
BBDO Portugal |
Creative Director |
| Rita Bastos |
BBDO Portugal |
Account Director |
| Marco Pacheco/Rui Silva/Pedro Gonçalves/Felippe Motta |
BBDO Portugal |
Copywriter |
| Ruben Rodrigues |
BBDO Portugal |
Art Director |
| Pedro Gonçalves |
BBDO Portugal |
Head Of Digital |
| João Vitória |
BBDO Portugal |
Cto |
|
XPAND IT |
Telemetry Team |
|
MINISTÉRIO FILMES |
Production |
|
SAIS DE PRATA |
Photography |
The Brief
Every year, big wave rider Garrett McNamara challenges Nazaré’s giant waves in Portugal. This is where he set the world record when he rode a 34-meter wave in 2013. Mercedes-Benz is Garrett’s official provider of his vehicles in Nazaré, but the brand wasn’t getting attention. The challenge was to make this sponsorship visible and relevant to a broad audience. We came up with the idea of creating a Mercedes-Benz surfboard. Together with Garrett and Mercedes-Benz design and engineering team at AMG we built a unique surfboard just like the storied Silver Arrow cars.
Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation
Making a Mercedes-Benz surfboard for Garrett to ride Nazaré’s giant waves, a F1 race car for the sea, looked like an idea that could generate a lot of curiosity in Portugal. If we were lucky enough, maybe around the world. With this project we wanted to create something that would get attention among surf, automobile, design and technology enthusiasts, but also people in general. With an investment mainly in developing the surfboard and not in traditional advertising the results were hard to predict. Fortunately we were blown away by the outcome.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results
The results went far beyond our initial desires. The news of the making of a Mercedes-Benz surfboard travelled the world. Besides primetime news shows and features in newspapers the surfboard marked it’s presence on The Huffington Post, The Verge, PSFK, Hypebeast, The Inertia, Surfer, Surfline, Surf Europe, Trip, Design Boom, Design Father, Red Bull’s website and Pamela Anderson’s twitter account. Earned media surpassed one million euros of investment. And the amount of comments of individuals expressing their desire to own a surfboard manufactured by Mercedes-Benz is just impossible to count.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
What could be more relevant for a company that makes vehicles than having the world’s top athlete use them? The Mercedes-Benz surfboard is a F1 race car for the waves. Mercedes-Benz makes a clear statement of their spirit of irreverence and commitment towards excellence outside of their usual territory.