Title	CALIFORNIA STAYS
Brand	VOLKSWAGEN
Product/Service	VOLKSWAGEN CALIFORNIA
Category	A04. Travel, Leisure, Retail, Restaurants & Fast Food Chains
Entrant	BELONG AGENCY Copenhagen, DENMARK
Idea Creation	BELONG AGENCY Copenhagen, DENMARK
Media Placement	BELONG AGENCY Copenhagen, DENMARK
PR	BELONG AGENCY Copenhagen, DENMARK
Production	BELONG AGENCY Copenhagen, DENMARK

Name	Company	Position
Thomas Bjerg	Belong Agency	CCO
Farah Dib	Belong Agency	Executive Creative Director
Line Johnsen	Belong Agency	Associate Creative Director
Sigge Bjerkhof	Belong Agency	Director/DOP
Louise Brandt	Belong Agency	Strategy Director
Jacob Scriver	Belong Agency	Strategic Planner
Martin Meincke	Belong Agency	Designer
Laura Gry	Belong Agency	Designer
Julie Willemoes Frandsen	Belong Studio	Producer
Marie Tidemand	Belong Agency	Digital Campaign Manager
Lise Skakkebæk Larsen	Belong Agency	Project manager
Ditlev Ahlefeldt-Laurvig	Belong Agency	CEO
Louie Halvorsen	Belong Agency	Associate Project manager
Thomas Mason	Belong Agency	Editor
Jesper Lind	Belong Agency	Editor
Alex Suhr	Belong Agency	Drone
Daniel Norit	Belong Agency	Copy Editor
Josephine Bugtrup	Belong Agency	Strategic Planner

Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?

By leveraging the iconic road trip experience that has long been synonymous with the VW campervans and reinventing it for a modern audience craving opportunities to travel on their own terms, despite modern restrictions, we turned cult into mainstream culture. We created a whole new way to experience the road, made national news, started a social media storm with content shared across multiple platforms and opened a lively discussion within the campervan community – discussions and content that lived on after the event in the shape of a social movement questioning the restrictive overnight camping rules in Denmark and beyond.

background

In the 1960s, Volkswagen changed the game. The now iconic VW campervan gave birth to road tripping - no destination, only adventure on the horizon. And with hotter, longer summers, there has never been a better time to get on the road with Volkswagen California… Except, in Denmark, like most other European countries, spending the night outside a camping site is nowadays punishable by a fine – seriously hampering the original idea of the campervan. That's why Volkswagen Denmark briefed us to help revitalise Volkswagen California’s position as the ultimate symbol for freedom. We had three objectives to meet: BUSINESS: Traffic to website and leads (downloads of pricelist/sales material) COMMUNICATION & BRAND: Develop a platform that differentiates VW California in the travel category (including camping) INTERNAL Develop a range of emotional USPs for VW California in addition to all the technical features

Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)

The road is no longer what connects us from A to B. With VW California, the road is the destination. So we set out to make it this year’s hottest holiday destination. By drawing on the vocabulary of the hotel and services industry, we sought to showcase the unique and unbeatable ways in which we make you feel at home on the road. In order to do this, we partnered with landowners all across the country to open California Stays – overnight spots in Denmark’s most remote and breathtaking locations, bookable for free on the website, AirBnB and Booking.com. In only two weeks we were fully booked, traffic to the website put serious pressure on our servers and the wave of interest had us extend the campaign to six full weeks. By addressing a real problem, we – once again – made Volkswagen California synonymous with freedom.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

The primary target group is families prioritising quality time together over exotic holiday destinations. They like the idea of authentic travel and want the perception of being unique. They have access to all four corners of the world through their Instagram feeds, cheaper flights, and longer, hotter summers. In short, they have already been tourists everywhere and they dream of experiencing the world as locals instead. In short, our freedom to experience has never been greater. Therefore, freedom is no longer just about being able to go where you want, whenever you want. True freedom is about feeling at home, wherever you go. We feel at home when we’re able to be true to ourselves and our values ​​without compromising. Whether it's what we do, what we eat, or what and who we spend our time on. That’s what we set out to

Describe the execution (30% of vote)

We created the world’s first Volkswagen California overnight spots, announced a week before to a Facebook community of California owners and fans – allowing them first priority to explore and book. The spots, situated in four different corners of Denmark – in some of the most beautiful and breathtaking locations, otherwise inaccessible due to private roads and legislation – were now available to anyone with a VW campervan, owned or rented. We then initiated a large-scale digital campaign leveraging key moments and places where our target audience searched for holiday and road travel inspiration, creating awareness and buzz around a new way of travelling. The community was engaged in a lively debate around the underlying legal challenges and the solution, leading to multiple request for the spots to stay open and clearly indicating the cross-category exposure we had generated for Volkswagen California, spurring thousands to share their stories on social.

List the results (30% of vote)

The campaign was the most successful Volkswagen California campaign to date, generating over 991% increase in traffic to website compared to the same time last year and an impressive 100% increase in sales material and pricelist downloads – a certain indication of consideration in the automotive industry. Beyond smashing the business objectives set for the campaign, we also managed to drive large scale awareness and engagement on social media with over 4.5million impressions and 500.000 likes and comments. The spots were fully booked within two weeks, compelling us to re-negotiate with landowners to extend the duration of the campaign in order to meet the huge demand. The campaign got exposure both on local news sites and in industry press, pointing specifically to the effectiveness of the campaign in placing the brand, the product and the solution right at the heart of the community and the brand’s most loyal fans.