The solution was to perform a stunt where we wanted to demonstrate an exceptional maneuvering with a trailer in reverse at high speed – showing the benefit of the product a little bit exaggerated.
Campaign Success
We split a car in two and built a trailer around it. The walls were see-through plexiglass covered with transparent foil, so that the driver could look out, but no one could look in. And then we let the trailer tow the Passat through the streets outside Oslo (capitol of Norway). Claim: Volkswagen Trailer Assist. Backing up with a trailer will be this easy. Well, almost.
Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results
The campaign reached the following results in a country with 5 million people:•We created a Facebook reach of more than 55 million•The behind-the scenes film had 41 million views on Facebook•1.100.000 liked it•696.000 shared it•130.000 commented it•The stunt and films were described in more than 250 online articles in more than 46 countries with more than 396 million potential readers.And most importantly:The following month the Passat (with Trailer Assist) sales were up 15%.
Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service
The campaign was a promotion for new innovations (Trailer Assist) directed towards activating the target group (both out in the streets and on social media) and create sale of the new Passat.
In the Norwegian market the majority of family cars are sold with a trailer hitch. Passat estate is segment leader, and most of them are equipped with this device.The target audience was adult men with a family and the need for a roomy car, which often also means from time to time a need of a trailer.We also build on one basic insight: Most people find it difficult to reverse with a trailer and hate to do it.A system that will help them out will obviously create attention.Since social media to a large degree is about entertainment, and surprising videos always create a large number of viewers and involvement we decided to move along that path.This gave us the communication strategy and the idea for the campaign.