Title	VOLKSWAGEN STROLLER
Brand	PON’S AUTOMOBIELHANDEL
Product/Service	AUTOMOTIVE
Category	B02. Consumer Products (incl.Durable Goods)
Entrant Company	ACHTUNG! Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Advertising Agency	ACHTUNG! Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Media Agency	WE ARE FIRST Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production Company	MAGIC BULLET Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Production Company 2	SIZZER AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS

Name	Company	Position
Mervyn Ten Dam	Achtung!	Creative Director
Bert Marissen	Achtung!	Creative
Alexis Jabbour	Achtung!	Creative
Emily Kroes	Achtung!	Producer
Elke Ter Bogt	Achtung!	Producer
Jonathan Elbers	Czar	Director
Fenna Breitbarth	Czar	Producer

The Campaign

In our 2015 brand campaign for Volkswagen, we showed a baby stroller that a mom expected to brake automatically just like her VW. One comment by Timo Ros sparked a spirited debate on new uses for VW break assist technology, creating an opportunity to strengthen the relationship with Volkswagen’s most dedicated brand ambassadors. We wanted bring the conversation between VW and their brand ambassadors to a larger audience, while highlighting two of VW’s most innovative technologies: adaptive cruise control and automatic braking. To really prove VW’s positioning as a user-centric innovator, we invited Timo as ambassador of the 180,000 Facebook fans, to the Volkswagen HQ to help us build the next generation baby stroller to showcase VW’s two main technologies: adaptive cruise control and automatic braking. We made a short film referencing our campaign, telling Timo’s story and introducing the stroller as if it could be the next new product coming from Volkswagen. We sent out press releases to various publications, with specific narratives for each relevant reader groups (parents/mothers, automotive, tech and gadget). Initially, we aimed for 300,000 views generated by earned media. At the end of the campaign over 400 online publications had written about our video including Huffington Post, Buzzfeed and Yahoo. Volkswagen got showered with questions from all over the world. Our video was viewed 2,231,864 times with an engagement rate of 1.2% and the video got shared vociferously on social media reaching a total of 14,644,024 impressions.

The Brief

With this campaign we wanted bring the conversation between VW and their brand ambassadors to a larger audience, while highlighting two of VW’s most innovative technologies: adaptive cruise control and automatic braking. This meant that our campaign had to deliver talk value so it would be picked up by relevant publications about the product and its features (e.g. car blogs) and publications read by our target audience (family men) or their spouse (co-decision maker). Together with Volkswagen we aimed at 300,000 views in the Dutch market.

Execution

Together with Timo and a random test dad, we created a first prototype designed to showcase VW’s two main technologies: adaptive cruise control and automatic breaking. We made a short film referencing our campaign, telling Timo’s story and introducing the stroller as if it could be the next new product coming from Volkswagen. While the idea itself had a lot of WOM-potential, it still needed to find its way to the right target audiences. We gauged the redactional value of the creative by seeding the film on the VW Facebook page and to entertainment blogs. After a first success, we expanded the campaign by sending out press releases to various publications, with specific narratives for each of the relevant reader groups (parents/mothers, automotive, tech and gadget). Even Maxi-Cosi published our content on their global social channels.

Our objective: spark interest in VW innovation, by bringing the conversation between VW and their brand ambassadors to a larger audience. We measured this by the additional reach of the film and the engagement around it. Given the size of our country and a lack of additional media budget,we aimed for 100,000 to 300,000 views generated solely by earned media. At the end of the campaign over 400 online publications had written about our video including Huffington Post, Buzzfeed, Yahoo, CNET, Autoworld and The Dad. Volkswagen headquarters got showered with questions coming from reporters from all over the world (places like Brazil, Germany, Japan, Oman and Russia). Our video was viewed 2,231,864 times on our channels reaching a total of 14,644,024 impressions. We had an engagement rate of 1.2% and the video got shared vociferously on social media.

The Strategy

It’s not often that you get the chance to truly bring your audience’s collective imagination to life, so we jumped right on the opportunity to create a truly great innovation that made VW relevant beyond just cars. With our technology, we could even make parents’ life easier and keep their baby safe. To really prove VW’s positioning as a user-centric innovator, we invited Timo, the Facebook fan with the top comment, to the Volkswagen HQ to help us build the next generation baby stroller. Timo became the ambassador for the 180,000 Volkswagen Facebook fans helping us mould the creative power of the crowd into a real prototype designed by VW fans.