2018 Winners & Shortlists

FAST. NOT FURIOUS.

BrandINFINITI OF ARABIAN AUTOMOBILES
Product/ServiceINFINITI Q50 RED SPORT
EntrantINITIATIVE MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryUse of Screens
Idea Creation INITIATIVE MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement INITIATIVE MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

The Campaign

Thanks to conventional wisdom, car buyers are easily turned on by the roar of an engine as an indication of a car’s power, performance and speed. What they don’t realise is that many car manufacturers try to boost sales by synthetically creating the roaring effect to emulate the sound that petrol heads love. The practice is so widespread, The Washington Post investigated seven global manufacturers involved in what they described as the auto industry’s ‘dirty little secret’. Which meant the Q50’s true engine sound being certified ‘lower than normal’, did not compromise performance in any way. Arguably, it was more authentic. Unexpected? We thought so too! Wouldn’t it be a great idea if we could gather an audience together who were expecting fast cars and loud engines…and show them something a little more subtle but no less impressive or effective? Fortunately, one such event was taking place.

Creative Execution

We leveraged immersive Dolby Surround Sound Systems within the cinemas to create a memorable audio-visual demonstration of the Q50’s subtle, silent roar from the driver’s perspective. Our 7-second cinema spots were sequenced as the final trailer to the main feature, leaving a lasting impression on our audience right before they watched a 90-minute movie packed with fast cars and loud-revving engines. We couldn’t have wished for a better media placement opportunity. Our ‘Fast. Not Furious’ campaign was enhanced by video and display activity across digital platforms, targeting wider audiences, and retargeted prospective buyers and sellers during a critical moment of the research and purchase cycle, when they visited competitor and car-sale sites. Finally, influential bloggers were given the opportunity to experience, review and document their experience of the car through blogger outreach activity.

Throughout the 3-month campaign, the conversion rate from walk-ins to sales was 8% - our target was to exceed the historical 5% conversion rate from a typical new model launch campaign. Overall sales of the Q50 were 4x higher than the previous model’s launch. Strong campaign results across all channels supported this – for example, within the first month of launch (April to May 2017), our showroom traffic increased by 32%, from 600 monthly walk-ins to 790. Sales were strongly supported by digital activity, contributing 302 leads (versus the 250 leads a typical launch campaign would deliver). Yet aside from exceeding KPIs, our biggest win was finally making customers realize that loud doesn’t necessarily mean powerful. And the next time you hear a deafening engine roar, you’ll be one of the enlightened few to know that furious…doesn’t necessarily mean fast.

There was a time in history when the majority of the world was convinced the Earth was flat, before astronomers and explorers began to prove otherwise. Their challenge was to convince the world they were right. Last April, we were challenged to debunk another widely held myth. Conventional wisdom states that that the louder the engine, the faster the car. But INFINITI had a 400HP silent assassin of a sedan that held its own in independent tests against similarly spec’d vehicles. Unlike ancient history, modern media existed to help us. And it did. Read on to find out how...

Insights, Strategy and the Idea

The premiere of the latest film in the high-octane ‘Fast & the Furious’ move franchise was set to take place in April 2017. All seven previous films in the series existed to confirm stereotypes of fast cars and noise. It was the perfect opportunity to deliver our message. Right before the film. To make them question everything they were about to see. We weren’t out to ruin anyone’s night. Just subtly remind them that what they see in films is not always the truth. We would partner with every major cinema across the UAE for the duration of the movie’s screening and play a spot that placed our audience right inside the cockpit of the Q50 Red Sport. If we couldn’t get them to visit the showroom and experience our silent engine, then we would bring the showroom to them.

Credits

Name Company Role
Alexandra de Smet Initiative Dubai Digital Media Manager
Bassem Hoss Initiative Dubai Senior Digital Media Planner
Ali Berjawi Initiative Dubai Account Director
Aly Mouzannar Initiative Dubai Senior Media Planner
Rami Ghanem MullenLowe MENA Account Director
Alex Obradovic MullenLowe MENA Director of Creative & Technology