Skoda: MADE OF MEANER STUFF

Credits & Description:

Category: Product Launches

Advertiser: SKODA

Product/Service: AUTOMOBILE

Agency: MPG

Date of First Appearance: Nov 1 2010

Entrant Company: MPG, Madrid, SPAIN

Entry URL: http://www.dontseethatoften.co.uk/Cannes2011/SkodaVRSdirect.html

Creative Director: Geoff Gower (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Digital Creative Director: Mark Urey (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Creative: Kylie Lewis (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Creative: Brochan Watts (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Copywriter: Nick Hay (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Copywriter: Kristian Foy (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Art Director: Mark Hanson (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Group Account Director: Damian Bos (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Senior Account Manager: Frank Freeman (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Senior Account Manager: Emma Huismans (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Head of Innovation: Jon Buckley (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Senior Producer: Anthony Nicols (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Creative Technologist: Alex Coulcher (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Technical Lead: Simana Paul (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Head of Digital Design: Jon Biggs (Archibald Ingall Stretton)

Media placement: Microsite - Online - 1 November 2010

Media placement: Facebook App - Facebook - 1 November 2010

Media placement: YouTube Channel - YouTube - 1 November 2010

Media placement: Online Ads - Autotrader, MSN, Yahoo - 1 November 2010



Describe the brief/objective of the direct campaign.

In the UK, the Skoda brand has traditionally appealed to an older audience, aged 54+. With the launch of the new Fabia vRS – a serious ‘hot hatch’ – our brief was to sell the Skoda brand to the much younger, 25+ audience. So, where better to talk to them than their ‘second-home’ – Facebook



But we knew, that whilst reaching them on Facebook would be reasonably straightforward, engaging this hard-to-please, digitally-savvy bunch would be a hard ask.



Lovers of genuine innovation and original ideas, nothing but a digital ‘wow’ – together with the chance to win a car – would be enough to create the response and increased awareness we were looking for.



Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective with reference to the projected response rates and desired outcome.

Our answer was to create, develop and code in-house a unique Facebook API, using Facebook Connect, that allowed people to find out through their Facebook activity just how lovely or mean they were, based on a points system.



The aim was to get at least 5,000 people to enter and engage with the app. And then to test-drive and buy the car.



We knew that the audience were always on the look-out for ‘cool’ new online communities to join. So, we encouraged players to invite their friends to rate them to boost their score and give them a chance of becoming the ‘loveliest’ or ‘meanest’ person in the UK (and winning a Fabia hatch or Fabia vRS respectively). Banner ads got the word out about the app.



Explain why the creative execution was relevant to the product or service.

Launching a car with a giveaway of the vehicle is nothing new. But the way we ran this competition was a direct marketing and digital first – using cutting-edge technology to draw insights from individuals’ Facebook profiles and then recommending the vehicle most suitable for them.



Showcasing that whether ‘lovely’ or ‘mean’ – there’s a Skoda to suit you.



Drawing on the hugely popular ‘Cake’ campaign added an element of continuity – showing the vRS as an evolution of the Skoda brand, not something totally new. This also allowed us to engage our existing customers as well as attracting new ones.



Describe the results in as much detail as possible with particular reference to the RESPONSE of the target audience including deliverability statistics, response rates, click throughs, sales cost per response, relationships built and overall return on investment.

Over 8,000 people played our Facebook competition and, as the closing date drew closer, a ‘bidding war’ erupted as those at the top end of each scale fought desperately to get as many last-minute votes as possible. And they didn’t just visit the site to play the game: over 12,000 brochures were downloaded and over 100 test-drives requested.



In terms of cold hard sales, 132 Fabia vRS models were ordered over the campaign period, helping us to beat our target for the year with 529 orders against a target of 500.