2020/2021 Winners & Shortlists

THE CLA - PLAY BY YOUR OWN RULES

BrandMERCEDES-BENZ MIDDLE EAST
Product/ServiceCLA
EntrantOMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
CategoryDurable Consumer Goods including Automotive
Idea Creation OMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Media Placement OMD Dubai, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Why is this work relevant for Media?

The CLA was being launched for the very first time – at the busiest time of year, when all leading car brands were talking to the same consumer in a cluttered space. With a thin budget, high competition and tough sale targets – we wouldn’t stand a chance. Which led us to step out of the traditional, opt for the uncustomary and bring the CLA experience to our audiences at the comfort of their own sofa – their smartphones.

Background

Situation: - December is a huge month for new releases and with a limited budget, being unique was crucial for us to stand out otherwise we wouldn’t be able to compete. - Accordingly, we created a visually stunning and an engrossing execution, while staying true to the Mercedes brand & the CLA ethos. Brief: - Launch the new CLA and position the model within the passenger car segment. - Conquest a younger, entry-level premium product-seeking demographic and convince them to consider the Mercedes brand. Objectives: - Use a mobile-centric approach with a focus on environments appropriate for the product. - Connect with audiences naturally and orgainically. - Avoid being intrusive to the audience, presenting only engaging, quality experiences that are totally in line with the Mercedes brand ethos. - Drive brand affinity and consideration at the time of CLA launch.

Describe the creative idea / insights (30% of vote)

Rather than simply advertising the product during the busiest time of year, we partnered up with one of the world’s largest gaming hubs and created a powerful mobile led in-game execution – changing brand perception, increasing engagement and impacting car sales like never before.

Describe the strategy (20% of vote)

Our target audience are young and old Millennials with an affinity for gaming, automotive & luxury brands, 18-34 year olds with a male skew, across key markets UAE & KSA. Given that millennials almost spend 25% of their day on their smartphones, 32% of which is spent playing games. Setting the perfect stage for us to reach them. Our approach was simple - the CLA is a symbol of individuality – reinforced through its slogan “play by your own rules”. Millennials today, demand nothing more than accessible experiences. Bridging the gap between mobility and individuality – we opted for a Mobile led in-game execution, bringing the best of both worlds at the tips of our audiences’ fingers wherever they are.

Describe the execution (20% of vote)

Implementation: We created an instantly accessible, addicively fun, and quick-to-play game that was run as an incentivized playable ad. The game was developed from the ground up to match the mood and creative direction of other digital ads running in parallel. Mercedes chose to run the game on Gameloft’s propriety network of apps within natural cuts in Gameplay; ensuring the execution was viewable and brand safe, while organically offering engaging, non-intrusive interaction. Media channels and integration: Mobile Timeline: The execution took 2 months to develop to ensure all brand guidelines were met – finally after multiple rounds of tweaking, the game was perfected and launched on December 1st. Scale: UAE & KSA

List the results (30% of vote)

Apart from exceeding all global benchmarks and media KPIs, we witnessed a complete sell out – more units needed to be ordered, dealerships reported a whooping increase of 30% in additional car orders in UAE and 50% in KSA. Not only that, but we also witnessed an increase of 192% & 133% in website new visitors and sessions respectively – driving demand for other cars as well. Game Results: - Users spent over 6,000 hours playing the game during its 4-week run. That’s equivalent to 8 months of attention for the brand! - Over 1.2 million engagements were generated over the campaign at a 76% engagement rate. That’s 75% higher than the benchmark. - Over 400K users played our game in full, and we achieved a 29% complete engagement rate. - Our click through rate was 1.37%, which was 87% higher than average.

Credits

Name Company Role
Satrajit Duttagupta OMD Creative Direction & Execution