2015 Winners & Shortlists

A GERMAN FOR EVERY SAUDI

Short List
BrandVW - VOLKSWAGEN
Product/ServiceAUTOMOTIVE
EntrantJ. WALTER THOMPSON RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
CategoryConsumer products
Entrant Company J. WALTER THOMPSON RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA
Advertising Agency J. WALTER THOMPSON RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA

The Campaign

In Saudi VW scores low on awareness, consideration and suffers from negative perception. It was no surprise that after six months(with an annual sales target of 1700 cars)there was 1200 vehicles left in stock.VW decided to launch a liquidation offer on all2014models. How could we create demand for these 1200vehicles? In Saudi a German label is normally associated with quality and VW was offering a discount on all their cars.From there came our idea:A German car for every Saudi. Sounds straightforward? Not when you consider that the equivalent short Arabic phrase can be understood as a German woman for every Saudi. We launched a teaser campaign that kept it open to interpretation and very quickly,it captured the imagination:consumers turned it into a hashtag It didn't take long for it to explode:people started toying with our message,then celebrities joined in. Soon women were asking for a German man for every Saudigirl. We encouraged bloggers and YouTube creators including well-known YouTube comedy shows with millions of subscribers,to fuel the conversation further and they fanned the flames.So much so that we had to pull the plug on the teaser and move swiftly to the revealer campaign,where the cars’ features were brought into our play on words VW received 1696 test drive requests and all 1200cars were sold.The campaign created a twitter frenzy with people turning our teaser“a German(woman) for every Saudi” into a hashtag,and we had comedians and celebrities contributing to the buzz,putting VW at the heart of a nationwide conversation

The Brief

Our objective was to Increase sales by 30% and create buzz and word of mouth for the VW brand to drive people into VW showrooms. In order to do that, we needed to understand what VW’s perception was in the market & what its potential strength was. A brand equity tracker revealed VW’s weaknesses in the market: low consideration, awareness & negative perception, but also revealed that German stood for quality and reliability

Results

VW received 1696 test drive requests driving significant traffic into the showrooms compared to the previous maximum of 10 test drives per month.In the span of the promotion all 1200 cars were sold compared to the past six months in which only 500 cars were sold The campaign created a twitter frenzy with people turning our teaser “a German(woman) for every Saudi” into a hashtag,Tweets within the 1st 12 hours after the teaser launch reached 5,403;the number of images posted reached 118,Total potential impressions 28,997,011 and total potential reach 14,078,064 and comedians and celebrities contributed to the buzz. Even newspapers had something to say about our campaign,for example,online newspapers like Want news started the day with a headline questioning the outdoor teaser and talking about the suspicions behind it,Al Jazeera featured a full interview with the marketing team ofVW.Therefore, putting VW at the heart of a nationwide conversation.

Execution

Describe step by step how the plan was implemented including where, when and for how long. Were there specific tools or tactics? Did the campaign run according to the original plan or was it adapted at any stage? We launched a teaser campaign that kept it open to interpretation and very quickly, it captured the imagination: consumers turned it into a hashtag. It didn't take long for it to explode: people started toying with our message, then celebrities joined in. Soon women were asking for a German man for every Saudi girl. We encouraged bloggers and YouTube creators including well-known YouTube comedy shows with millions of subscribers, to fuel the conversation further and they fanned the flames. So much so that we had to pull the plug on the teaser and move swiftly to the revealer campaign, where the cars’ features were brought into our play on words

The Situation

The Saudi market was proving to be a challenge for VW with unaided brand awareness at only 15%compared to the market leader Toyota at89% and consideration at an all-time low.Consumer perception was also negative,with VW seen as overpriced and there was widespread negative word of mouth on after sales service.VW was only receiving a maximum request of 10test drives per month. It was no surprise that after six months(with an annual sales target of 1700 cars)there was 1200 vehicles left in stock.VW decided to launch a liquidation offer on all 2014models.How could we create demand for these 1200 vehicles?

The Strategy

$Our objective was to Increase sales by 30% and create buzz and word of mouth for the VW brand to drive people into VW showrooms. In order to do that, we needed to understand what VW’s perception was in the market & what its potential strength was. A brand equity tracker revealed VW’s weaknesses in the market: low consideration, awareness & negative perception, but also revealed that German stood for quality and reliability

Credits

Name Company Role
Chafic Haddad J.walter Thompson Executive Creative Director
Gilbert Abdallah J.walter Thompson Associate Creative Director
Ezzeddine Yassine J.walter Thompson Art Director
Ghassan Al Ghaddaf J.walter Thompson Head Of Arabic Copywriting
Haifa Alrasheed J.walter Thompson Senior Copywriter
Alaa Abu Hammeen J.walter Thompson Associate Business Director
Mazen El Hilwee J.walter Thompson Senior Account Manager
Dana Al Kutoubi J.walter Thompson Strategic Planning Director
Adel Baraja VW Markeing/Public Relations Director