| Title | ARROWS |
| Brand | VOLKSWAGEN |
| Product/Service | VOLKSWAGEN SIDE ASSIST |
| Category |
B04. Use of Print |
|
Entrant
|
DDB GROUP GERMANY Berlin, GERMANY
|
|
Idea Creation
|
DDB GROUP GERMANY Berlin, GERMANY
|
Credits
| Eric Schoeffler |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
CCO |
| Myles Lord |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Creative Managing Director |
| Gabriel Mattar |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Executive Creative Director |
| Ricardo Wolff |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Creative Director Copy |
| Ahmet Kilic |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Junior Art Director |
| Felix Karges |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Copywriter |
| Nicolas Holz |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Junior Copy Writer |
| It's Us Media GmbH |
It's Us Media GmbH |
Film Production Company |
| Hesse Studios |
Hesse Studios |
Sound Production Company |
| Matthias Grebin |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Animation |
| Susi Schneider |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Agency Producer |
| Marcus Wetschewald |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Agency Producer |
| Susanne Pluemecke |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Business Director |
| Benjamin Beck |
DDB Group Germany GmbH |
Account Manager |
| Stefan Lang |
kapacht GmbH, Berlin |
Producer |
| Maximilian Duwe |
Maximilian Duwe |
Direction |
| Studio Funk Berlin |
Studio Funk Berlin |
Sound Design |
| Stephen Taylor |
Stephen Taylor |
Speaker |
| Katharina Jordan |
Katharina Jordan |
Sound Editor |
| Nikolaus Schreiber |
Nikolaus Schreiber |
Camera |
| Happy_Brass_Remix-Cartier_Glenn_Mancuso_Brandon |
Happy_Brass_Remix-Cartier_Glenn_Mancuso_Brandon |
Composer |
The Campaign
To achieve a better understanding of what the Side Assist is about, we cut down the complex technology into one simple benefit: it makes sure you see other cars.
We brought the insight to life in all kinds of media and on the streets, by using arrows to point out our competitors’ cars that surround you. Whether it was on a billboard, an online banner, at a dealer or parked in the streets – wherever there was a car, we made sure people saw it.
In this way we turned every single vehicle out there into an ad of our own.
Creative Execution
People encounter cars in all kinds of media, which gave us the opportunity to implement the idea not only in classic channels, but also online and in the streets.
The Volkswagen Side-Assist Arrows pointed at ads, cars and dealerships of Audi, Renault, Smart, Seat, Toyota, Mazda, Infinity, Ford, Mini, and even at a “Trabi” from former East Germany.
As a first step we booked spaces in magazines to place our arrows next to other car ads, while at the same time having specialized banners that appeared next to our competitors ads for online usage.
Besides these two implementations, we also used a custom-built trailer with a large LED-arrow that we placed next to parked cars and huge blow-up billboards of competitors.
Additionally we placed huge inflatables and floor stickers at billboards and other brand’s dealerships. Not to mention an arrow-drone that we had following around cars in the streets.
By converting every vehicle into our own messaging, we transformed the Side-Assist from complicated technology into one clear benefit: that it lets you see other cars.
We spread the message across billboards, dealerships, print, online, in the sky and on the streets, in order to reach as large an audience as possible. With just a simple arrow, we turned every car across every media into messaging for the Side-Assist.
Approaching people with advertising in a classic way can be tough these days. Most people just don’t pay attention or click away. Therefore it is more important than ever to find interesting ways to engage with them while keeping the message simple.
With the Volkswagen Side-Assist Arrows we found the perfect way of doing both. Just by using arrows that point to our competitors’ cars we showed the main benefit of the feature across almost all media: that it makes sure you see other cars.
So we turned our competitors’ media into ours.
Insights, Strategy and the Idea
While the actual arrows in the streets concentrated on catching the attention of the passing pedestrians, we brought the idea to a broader audience in a second step. With a video that documented the execution, we spread the campaign on YouTube and Volkswagen’s other social channels.
The result was that the idea got picked up not only by blogs but also by classic media, leading to people sharing the video with their friends and providing a better understanding of what the Side Assist is all about.