Volkswagen: The Naked Ute [video]

Credits & Description:

Titile: The Naked Ute
Agency: Ddb
Brand: Volkswagen Australia
Country: Australia
Advertising Agency: Ddb, Sydney
Entrant Company: Ddb, Sydney
Media Agency: Ddb, Sydney
Pr Agency: Ddb, Sydney
Production Company: Revolver/Will Orourke, Sydney
Business Director: Astrid Noble (Ddb Sydney)
Senior Digital Producer: Jady Lau (Ddb Sydney)
Executive Producer Md/ Head Of Projects: Josh Mullens (Revolver/Will Orourke)
Director: Matt Devine (The Glue Society)
Producer: Serena Paull (Revolver/Will Orourke)
Font End Developer/Designer: Jennifer Wong (Ddb Sydney)
Front End Developer: Sarah Hawes (Ddb Sydney)
Executive Producer: Sora Nobari (Ddb Sydney)
Designer: Domenic Bartolo (Ddb Sydney)
Senior Creative: Jade Manning (Ddb Sydney)
Business Director: John Larkin (Ddb Sydney)
Sound Engineer: Paul Taylor (Sound Reservoir)
Chief Creative Officer: Toby Talbot (Ddb Sydney)
Ep Post/ Vfx Producer: Will Alexander (Heckler Films)
Managing Partner: Amanda Wheeler (Ddb Sydney)
Tv/Vfx Post Producer: Bonnie Law (Heckler Films)
Social Comms Manager: Salil Kumar (Ddb Sydney)
Post Producer: Scott Stirling (The Glue Society)
Business Manager: Chelsea Riddington (Ddb Sydney)
Chief Strategy Officer: Fran Clayton (Ddb Sydney)
Content Manager: Liana Rossi (Ddb Sydney)
Executive Producer Md/ Head Of Projects: Michael Ritchie (Revolver/Will Orourke)
Digital Senior Business Director: Parker Mason (Ddb Sydney)
Head Of Integrated Content: Sevda Cemo (Ddb Sydney)
Creative Technology Director: Shaun Oconnor (Dbb Sydney)
Senior Producer: Claire Seffrin (Ddb Sydney)
Senior Print Producer: John Wood (Ddb Sydney)
Digital Producer: Will Kerr (Ddb Sydney)
Deputy Executive Creative Director: Cam Hoelter (Ddb Sydney)
Photographer: Janyon Boshoff (Janyon Boshoff)
Director: Jonathan Kneebone (The Glue Society)
Tv/Content Editor: Luke Crethar (The Glue Society)
Content Director: Robert Crispe (Ddb Sydney)
Dop: Ryley Brown (Revolver/Will Orourke)
Senior Creative: Vince Osmond (Ddb Sydney)
Colourist: Yoomin Lee (The Glue Society)
Strategy:
In an unprecedented move, we ran a national unbranded campaign, encouraging Australia to guess and debate what they thought The Naked Ute was. We communicated the benefits of a mystery vehicle with no price, no link to dealerships and no branding of any kind.Using Facebook as our key channel with targeted investment against the relevant audience, we created entertaining unbranded content videos that depicted 4 true Amarok cynics test driving The Naked Ute.Online and social activity was supported with unbranded broadcast TV commercials, directing viewers to guess the identity of The Naked Ute on our website. We created a custom audience using behavioral data so we could re-connect with our audience who had engaged with our ‘naked ute’. After an entire week of impressing our audience with the capabilities of The Naked Ute, we revealed that it was in fact the Volkswagen Amarok.
Outcome:
By targeting potential ute buyers, then retargeting those who’d engaged with the ‘intrigue’ phase of our campaign, we were able to deliver huge reach (roughly half the population of Australia) but increase our efficiency when converting our audience into leads for dealers. In the first week, 25,000 people registered to guess the brand of the Naked Ute. Once we revealed it was an Amarok, we were able to use data and retargeting tools to reduce the average Cost Per Lead (to dealer) from $225.29 to $93.55. This set a new local record for Cost Per Lead. Most importantly, the campaign delivered sales results which have since been up 19% year on year.With the Naked Ute campaign, we managed to capture the imagination of the Aussie ute buyer, challenge their misconceptions about the Amarok and in many cases get them to switch their allegiance from Toyota or Mazda to Volkswagen.
Execution:
Our campaign was divided into two phases; Intrigue and Reveal.Intrigue Phase: We launched with unbranded social content videos and television commercials. All coms directed our audience to guess the identity of The Naked Ute on our unbranded website. The investment in this phase was significant, we needed maximum coverage over 7 days and managed to reach millions of ute considerers. Reveal phase: Now that our audience were truly impressed with The Naked Ute’s capabilities, it was time to let the cat out of the bag. All communication on social media as well as broadcast TV revealed that The Naked Ute was in fact the Volkswagen Amarok. Neither our 4 cynics or the public at large saw it coming, but they were all impressed by the credentials of the only German ute in Australia.
Synopsis:
In Australian, a ute (pick-up truck) is a way of life more than it is a means of transport. These vehicles need to accommodate bricks, kids, cattle, surfboards, sand, and the occasional head-on-collision with a Kangaroo at sunset. So when the sexy Volkswagen Amarok, the only European ute in the market, arrived on our shores it was met with a great deal of skepticism. Even though its capability, power and off road credentials were unquestionable, Aussie blokes saw the Amarok’s sleek design as a sign of weakness. They believed that a ute that looked that good meant it was a soft city car, and that it would never cope with the demands of harsh Australian conditions.Our task was to shift brand perceptions and convince our market that the Amarok was more workhorse than show pony.
Campaign Description:
Our target market was judging the Amarok by its cover, so our solution was to remove the cover. We stripped the Amarok of everything that identified it, forcing Australians to judge it without brand prejudice, and on performance alone. We created The Naked Ute and proved that “Tough Comes From Within”.