2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

HOW TO CRASH A PARTY

Short List
BrandCHEVROLET
Product/ServiceCHEVROLET CAMARO
EntrantCOMMONWEALTH//McCANN Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategorySocial Video
Idea Creation COMMONWEALTH//McCANN Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement CARAT Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
PR WEBER SHANDWICK MENA Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Production COMMONWEALTH//McCANN Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Background

There’s a legendary rivalry between Chevrolet and Ford. Particularly between the Chevrolet Camaro and the Ford Mustang, two iconic American muscle cars. This ongoing battle of one-upmanship dates all the way back to 1966, and fans are usually passionately for one and against the other, though the rivalry is generally friendly. Our brief was to wish the Ford Mustang a happy 55th birthday in a way that’s both fun and playful, but actually generates positive attention for Camaro. We wanted to crash their party, steal their thunder and turn their occasion into our PR win. The objectives were simple – spark positive conversation about Camaro among both the Chevrolet and Ford communities and beyond. On this short-lived occasion and with a limited budget, we were aiming for 375,000 video views and as many likes, shares and comments as possible. Challenge accepted.

Describe the strategy

Our main audience was Chevrolet fans, but we knew we could create buzz among the Ford and wider car-fan communities too. We targeted members of Chevrolet-related groups on social platforms, as well as members of broader automotive fan groups such as racing, drifting, Formula One and more. We did three things to make sure our film was relevant to social: We ensured it was short. At 20 seconds, it’s an easily snackable length. We made sure it was fun and enjoyable to watch. We made sure it tapped into the community zeitgeist, by playing on the brand rivalry. We called Mustang ‘little pony’ and made out that all the little pony wanted for his birthday was a Camaro… This was guaranteed to tickle our fans and ruffle Ford’s feathers. When added together, these three things made sure that the film was fun, relevant and shareable.

Describe the execution

A small studio. A Camaro. A cake. A few party decorations. And an adorable little pony called Cookie. That’s all we used to bring this together. From brief to live date was just 30 days, with a one-day shoot in between, and a tight budget of just $21,000 for the whole production. It was a small project, that made a big impact. The film was placed into the newsfeed of the social channels our audience used the most – Facebook, Instagram – with a total media buy of just $6,000.

List the results

It’s fair to say that for an occasion that lasted just a single day, our film spread like wildfire. With a goal of 375,000 video views, our little birthday gift generated: More than 2.2 Million video views More than 14,800 shares More than 2,200 comments Not only that, but it received organic coverage all around the world. It was translated and re-shared by multiple foreign markets, and even provoked a response from Ford all the way over in Colombia. The film was shared and written about across the globe – appearing in the Middle East, North America, South America, South East Asia, Europe and even as far away as New Zealand. We smashed our social benchmarks, delighted car fans everywhere and turned Mustang’s birthday into a celebration of Camaro. Now that’s how you crash a party.

Credits

Name Company Role
Andrej Arsenijevic Commonwealth McCann Executive Creative Director
Tamer Elsawy Commonwealth McCann // Dubai Associate Creative Director
Habiba Allam Commonwealth McCann Copywriter
Paul Bond Commonwealth McCann Copywriter
Abdul Kader Asfari Commonwealth McCann // Dubai Arabic Copywriter
Mihailo Rsumovic Commonwealth McCann // Dubai Creative Technologist
Mayar Essawy Commonwealth McCann Art Director
Matt Canzano Commonwealth McCann // Detroit Global CCO
Conan Gregory Commonwealth McCann // Dubai Regional Account Director
Jody Leon Commonwealth McCann // Dubai Digital Director
Vladimir Karmelic Commonwealth McCann // Dubai Digital Director
Carson D'Silva Commonwealth McCann Content Maker
Sami Kabbarah Commonwealth McCann Senior Social Media Manager
Angelina Hedra Weber Shandwick Account Director
Millie Roberts Weber Shandwick Senior Manager – Client Experience
John Hassan Commonwealth McCann // Dubai Head of production
Mohamed Hany Commonwealth McCann Head of Social
Jesse Armstrong Commonwealth McCann Business Director
Ian Halley Commonwealth McCann General Manager
Diana Ceausu Commonwealth McCann Global Head of Strategy and Research
Jeff Beverly Commonwealth McCann EVP, Global Director of Content
Ali Marashi Commonwealth McCann Regional Planning Director
Alex Jena Carat Business Director
Alex deSmet Carat Digital Media Director
Bassem Hoss Carat Digital Media Manager
Cookie Pony Happy Pony Co. Little Pony
David Minkin Commonwealth McCann General Manager
Grant Theron Commonwealth McCann CEO, Account & Client Management
Samantha Ankeny Commonwealth McCann SVP Director of Global Creative Operations
Links
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