The Brief

The objective of the promotion was to launch the new Subaru Impreza XV to a target audience of young of 22-28 year old Australians, and to clearly position it within the market as the antidote to a dull, mundane life by giving overworked Australians a chance to reconnect with their birthright-the great outdoors.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We began with a simple insight- Australians work longer hours than the rest of the world. So, with the new Impreza at its very heart, we created XV RESCUE, a Subaru funded Public Service dedicated to saving Australians from the daily grind. A community based campaign recognising the symptoms of workplace mundanity directed them to xvrescue.com, our unique online emergency centre designed to offer assistance to those who could no longer cope. Those judged to be the most severe cases were taken away from their workplace for an invigorating dose of outdoor activity. This was turned into online episodes.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

The campaign exceeded all expectations within the Australian marketplace. In just 8 weeks Subaru sold all XV’s, reaching their sales target well ahead of schedule. Subaru established a foothold in a segment they’d previously not occupied- crossover vehicles. Of the 21,893 unique users, 4,327 entered the promotion- a phenomenal conversion rate of 19.76%. 66,830 interacted with our rich media teaser banners. Of those who interacted with the banners and watched the video content (288,000) 1.97% clicked through to the microsite. More importantly, Subaru had begun a conversation with a whole new target audience they’d previously never appealed to.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

The promotion was relevant to the launch of a new car because by reaching out and offering an escape route to a generation clearly uncomfortable with the direction Australia was taking, we could firmly position the new Subaru XV as the antidote to a dull, mundane life. And by connecting our audience to the great outdoors we could to bring to life and demonstrate the versatility of the car in an exciting, and fun way.