Title	THE STREET CHARGING PROJECT
Brand	VOLKSWAGEN
Product/Service	VW ELECTRIC CARS
Category	A03. Use of Exhibitions and Installations
Entrant Company	DDB GROUP DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY
Advertising Agency	DDB GROUP GERMANY Berlin, GERMANY

Name	Company	Position
Eric Schoeffler	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Chief Creative Officer
Matthias Schmidt	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Executive Creative Director
Ray Ho/Veit Moeller/Tom Hauser	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Creative Director
Thomas Bengtson/Jack Christensen/Konradin Resa/Marc Kaufholz/Caro Heinrich/Lilli	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Art Director
Thomas Bengtson/Jack Christensen/Kim Hartman	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Copywriter
Katharina Volkmer/Susanne Plümecke	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Account Manager
Jens Mecking/Susi Schneider	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Agency Producer
Lukas Doraciotto/Isabella Jorgensen	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Graphic Designer
Niklas Früchte	Volkswagen AG	Media
	Maground	Stock Agency
Marlon von Franquemont	DDB Group Germany Gmbh	Screen Design

The Brief

Volkswagen wanted to increase sales of electric cars, cars that are like any other Volkswagen, just electric. E-cars are something they want to be for everyone. But research has shown that despite big strides in technology people are still sceptical about them. The main fear: Running out of battery. Using this insight we felt the best way to tackle the problem was a promotion that people could respond to and engage with instantly. A proof of concept that not only told people how easy e-cars are to use but showed them.

Campaign Success

The Street Charging Project was a promotion from Volkswagen that showed how easy owning an e-car could be and how much potential they have to become the most popular choice amongst car drivers. It offered people a simple and convenient service they could respond to immediately. As well as this the free charging stations acted as a way of advertising e-cars to non e-car drivers who could see how easy charging and using an e-car was for themselves.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

During the project the charging stations supplied people with approximately 19,000 Kilowatts of energy. That's enough to drive 140,000 km or 3.5 times around the globe. The Street Charging Project showed people that because electricity is everywhere it is possible to charge an e-car anywhere. So let's use that electricity! Perhaps more importantly the project helped to change attitudes and encouraged people to embrace e-cars, contributing to a cleaner environment.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The Street Charging Project utilised the electricity that was already available on the street. Using innovative technology, lampposts, billboards and public toilets were converted into free e-car charging stations that anyone could use. The promotion meant Volkswagen provided e-car drivers with a service they could respond to on the spot in a very convenient and direct way. People on the street were given an engaging demonstration of how simple it is to charge an e-car anywhere and how easy they are to use. We equipped the charging stations with digital panels showing beautiful electricity inspired animations as well as displaying messages that would catch the eye of passing e-car drivers encouraging them to use the charging stations. Other messages showed people how to use the charging stations and drivers could follow their charging progress using the panel screens or on smartphone while they were charging their cars.