2019 Winners & Shortlists

LITTLE PONY

Bronze Lynx
BrandCHEVROLET
Product/ServiceCHEVROLET
EntrantCOMMONWEALTH//McCANN Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategorySocial Video
Idea Creation COMMONWEALTH//McCANN Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement CARAT Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production COMMONWEALTH//McCANN Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Additional Company CHEVROLET Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Background.

Chevrolet’s Camaro & Ford’s Mustang have long been rivals. And nowhere is this rivalry more intensely played out than amongst the hardcore fans of the two classic muscle cars. On Mustang’s 54th birthday, we knew Ford would be making some noise and the Mustang fanbase would have a big reason to celebrate. But we didn’t want our own Camaro fans left out in the cold - So we decided to turn Mustang’s birthday momentum against itself, and turn the date into a celebration of Camaro instead.

Describe the creative idea.

The creative idea was simple – to have Camaro highjack Ford’s #Mustang54 birthday hashtag. And we set out to do this with a simple film. We didn’t want to come across as petty or jealous – that’s certainly not something Camaro fans would appreciate. So we maintained the high ground, by delivering a happy birthday message through our film, and acknowledging Mustang as the worthy rival it is. But of course, we made sure Camaro had the last word, by baking Mustang a cake, but having Camaro blow out the candles for them.

Describe the strategy.

Brands in the region aren’t allowed to directly reference or show competitors in their advertising. So, our friendly jab at Mustang’s expense needed to be approached with some tact. Feeling a bit cheeky, we turned this handicap to our advantage – using our birthday cake gift to reference Ford’s Mustang (why give their car the free coverage?) and leaning into the rivalry by giving them a cute nickname: “little pony”. Those in the know would understand. And that’s all that mattered.

Describe the execution.

The 16-second spot opens on a close-up of a logo, unmistakably that of the Ford Mustang, the Chevrolet Camaro’s biggest rival. A light humming can be heard. Panning back, reveals the logo to be a cake with 2 burning candles spelling out “54” (commemorating Mustang’s 54th birthday) and we see the familiar gentleman holding it: Taifi, Chevrolet’s brand ambassador, featured in all our ads. Zooming out further, we see Taifi is standing on an empty desert road, sporting shades and a cool expression. We notice the light humming in the background rapidly getting louder and higher in pitch. Suddenly, a red blur explodes past the screen and we cut to a close-up of the candles instantly blown out by the force. We reveal the Chevy Camaro, now seen zooming off into the distance. Supers fade in: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE PONY. We end on the Camaro & Chevy logos.

List the results.

The film was a hit – and spread like wildfire on people’s social feeds. We gave it a little push (under $4,000), but most shares & views were organic. • Over 3.8 Million reached • 1.6 Million views • 81% organic views on Facebook The film broke every Chevrolet social media record out there. • Over 8.6K shares & re-tweets • 6,000+ comments • 28% engagement rate (8X higher engagement than our benchmark!) • 7% brand uplift (Facebook) The real win was when Camaro fans saw the response from their Mustang rivals. Few examples: • “As a Mustang owner, I appreciate this, I love our rivalry” (Facebook) • “As a Mustang owner, I love this video…. Chevrolet just won my respect.” (Facebook) The film captured the region’s attention and the world’s, being picked up by dozens of global publications. Ad Age led with the headline: “Watch Camaro Crash Mustang’s Birthday”.

Credits

Name Company Role
Andrej Arsenijevic Commonwealth McCann//Dubai Executive Creative Director
Andrew Siebert Commonwealth McCann//Dubai Associate Creative Director
Vladimir Karmelic Commonwealth McCann//Dubai Head of Project Management
Jody Leon Commonwealth McCann//Dubai Digital Director
Conan Gregory Commonwealth McCann//Dubai Regional Account Director
Mihailo Rsumovic Commonwealth McCann//Duai Creative Technologist
Carson Dsilva Commonwealth McCann//Dubai Regional Account Manager
Angelina Hedra Weber Shandwick Associate Director
Millie Roberts Weber Shandwick Account Manager
Matt Canzano Commonwealth McCann//Detroit Deputy, Global CCO’s
Greg Braun Commonwealth McCann//Detroit Deputy, Global CCO’s
Ash Farr Commonwealth McCann//Detroit EVP/Global Head of Strategy
Bhavana Gowda Carat MENA Associate Media Director
Tamer Elsawy Commonwealth McCann//Dubai Associate Creative Director
Links
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