THE PEOPLE'S CAR PROJECT

TitleTHE PEOPLE'S CAR PROJECT
BrandVOLKSWAGEN GROUP CHINA
Product / ServiceTHE PEOPLE'S CAR PROJECT
CategoryA01. Creative Effectiveness
EntrantPROXIMITY BEIJING, CHINA
Entrant Company:PROXIMITY BEIJING, CHINA
Advertising Agency:PROXIMITY BEIJING, CHINA

Credits

Name Company Position
Georg Warga Goodstein/Partners Ecd
Daryl Villanueva/Felipe Ferreira/Flavio Vidigal Proximity China Acd
Jojo Zhang/Vivian Liu/Derek Lui Proximity China Copywriters
Andy Li/Zoro Cui Proximity China Art Directors
Fang Ji/Sofia Lv Proximity China Designers
Hymn Wong Proximity China Motiongrapher
Ever Liu Proximity China Editor
Cameron Rimington Proximity China Head Of Ai
Alex Zhang Proximity China Planner
Tobias Bordal/Maggie Ge Proximity China Social Team
Catherine Liu/Maureen Sherrad Proximity China Project Managers
Enko Von Arnim/Guay Chinchye/Lorraine Zhang/Audrey Li/Carolyn Yu Proximity China Accounts Team
Alex Csergo Proximity China Md
Inna Pan Agency Producer
Greenkern Group Brand Management Consulting
Trommsdorff/Druener Mobile Application
Weareflink Design Company
Contra Service China/Stink Production Company

Brief Explanation

Simply put, after ‘putting China on wheels’ and truly being the People’s car for decades, the Volkswagen brand was suffering. Being increasingly seen more as ‘sensible and rational’, far away from its former position as a leader, innovator and socially aspirational vehicle. We had to undo 10 years or more of perception in just over one. Competitors were fast gaining share and with price, improved quality and the widest vehicle choice available in the world. Chinese consumers were no longer seeing the VW brand as a symbol of status or desirability. There was a lot of noise and not a lot of cut through to be had. To turn this around, we needed to re-position Volkswagen in a way that spoke to a new generation of car owners/first buyers and leverage the formidable potency of China’s love of social media and all things online. But it couldn’t be ‘just a campaign’. We needed to move brand metrics but also deliver on purchase intent for Volkswagen. To achieve we needed to think in terms of a platform, go beyond a ‘web-site’ and truly tap into China’s love of mobility, freedom of self-expression and the social web. www.zaoche.cn was launched April 19th 2011 and a creative movement was inspired. Harnessing the powerful potential of crowdsourcing, we first developed and distributed original a/v content to engage and inspire the people. Then, through a first-of-its-kind online dialog platform, we provided a suite of tools to help people design, showcase and share their ideas to their friends, their peers, to China and the World. We then redistributed these ideas back into and across social media platforms and the wider web to stimulate voting and inspire commentary and creative exchange. PCP was integrated across 5 core social networks (which has now stretched out to reach 53!), implemented social and gamification features, and delivered an ongoing roll-out of dynamic new functionality, content and incentives.