SONY / ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING GERMANY Berlin, GERMANY
Credits
Name
Company
Position
Ralf Heuel
Grabarz & Partner
CCO and Partner
Reinhard Patzschke
Grabarz & Partner
CEO and Partner
Tobias Ahrens
Grabarz & Partner
Group CD
Christoph Stricker
Grabarz & Partner
Creative Director
Constantin Sossidi
Grabarz & Partner
Creative Director
Sebastian Locke
Grabarz & Partner
CD Digital
Julijus Rebic
Grabarz & Partner
CD Digital
Barbara Dirscherl
Grabarz & Partner
Art Director
Kaloyan Yanev
Grabarz & Partner
Art Director
Martin Bergmann
Grabarz & Partner
Art Director
Malik Benamara
Grabarz & Partner
Copywriter
Constantin Sossidi
Grabarz & Partner
Creativ Director
Richard Pietsch
Grabarz & Partner
Concept Digital
Jan Isterling
Grabarz & Partner
Group Head
Jasmin Schwarzinger
Grabarz & Partner
Account Supervisor
Stefan Kroke
Grabarz & Partner
Account Supervisor
Mareike Klotzbücher
Grabarz & Partner
Account Supervisor
Florian Kronenberg
Grabarz & Partner
Graphic Design
Jan Weber
Grabarz & Partner
Graphic Design
Lutz Kothe
Volkswagen AG
Head of Marketing
Jörn Hartig
Volkswagen AG
Head of Marketing Communication
Henning Teichmann
Volkswagen AG
Head of Classic Communication
Axel Neuhaus
Volkswagen AG
Head of Digital Marketing
Mirja Schneider
Volkswagen AG
Head of Media national and international
Bughard Puse
Volkswagen AG
Project Manager
Lucky Kids, Kinder- und Jugendchor der Rheinischen Musikschule Köln
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Music
Lucky7even Entertainment GmbH
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Second unit
Axel Doepner
Grabarz & Partner
Agency Producer
Julia Koop
Grabarz & Partner
Agency Producer
The Campaign
The idea was to let the products do the talking themselves. In real life. Why? Because if once you experience the incredible effect of e-mobility on big city life there is no question left as to whether this is the way to go. Also this was a chance for Volkswagen to claim something beyond a pure efficiency story. Something people recognize immediately: The quietness they all miss in the city and they all eagerly seek out when leaving for the countryside. Making people discover this directly is the most persuasive approach one can take. No tricks. No filter. Virtually no advertising. Just truth in a real environment.
Campaign Success
We flooded a roundabout in Hannover with Volkswagen e-vehicles and hybrids. With every car entering the roundabout the location got less noisy. At the moment when the traffic noise was gone, a children’s choir performed the world famous Depeche Mode song „Enjoy the silence“. Hundreds of excited pedestrians experienced live what a future with electric cars could feel like, or rather, sound like. Precisely timed, we unrolled a huge banner with our message. The live event was filmed and published as an online film, filled with emotion. At the end of the film we invited people to receive further information with a simple click. Together with the film this invitation was viewed over 9,000 000 times.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results
Within only two weeks the ETS landing page had over 30 000 relevant visits. As a result the traffic on Volkswagen´s e-mobility platform increased by ten times within just four weeks after the film was put online. The average stay was 5:34 minutes, meaning the visit duration increased by 72% during the campaign period.
But there was more to come: the requests for test drives and further information exceeded all expectations. For example 2.246 new car configurations were made. The video itself was widely shared and discussed, putting Volkswagen on the public radar when it comes to future technology. After ten days, the film had been watched over 9 000 000 times, surpassing almost every other car campaign and at a fraction of the cost. Google searches for Volkswagen e-mobility were four times higher than expected. Overall the click-rate outperformed the Volkswagen all time, digital campaign benchmark by six times.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
To bring Volkswagen e-mobility back into consumers’ relevant set, we literally brought the products into their everyday life with a one-off promotional event. Real people experienced a real benefit. For the first time people could really feel how e-mobility can make their life better: bringing the silence back into the city. Being part of this live product demonstration right at the heart of Germany’s loudest city, people were engaged and from here inspired to discover Volkswagen’s e-car fleet and spread the word in social networks, like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.
We had two different target groups: The first one consists of the pedestrians and tourists who would experience „Enjoy the silence“ first hand and live. The larger second target group consists of people generally interested in cars who might consider buying a new one in the near future. They are interested in innovative concepts, care for their families a lot and want to preserve a healthy environment for them. These people search for relevant information on the internet. The strategy was to make use of the fact that Volkswagen e-mobility is widely underestimated. So the authenticty of reactions towards our cars on the road helped to convince the much larger target group to see the brand in a different light. In addition to that, our goal to increase the traffic on the Volkswagen e-mobility platform could be achieved more easily whilst talking to people right in front of their computers.