The Campaign

Branded Entertainment is just beginning to become understood in Greater China where this film was shown (Hong Kong). There are some censorship laws, restricting any kind of entertainment that doesn't follow the guidelines of the state in terms of violence, sexual promiscuity, or events or conduct that would seem detrimental to society. This is, of course, why most of the programming in Asia, branded or otherwise, tends to be more bland than Europe or the States.

Results

As many car brands are realizing the dangers of sending and receiving texts while driving, VW wanted to communicate its dangers. But in keeping with the irreverent and fresh nature of the brand, VW wanted an execution that would feel different and unexpected. The idea of using in cinema point-of-view footage, and placing the audience in the driver's seat helped create a fully-captivated audience. Then the use of location-based broadcasting helped us bring the audience an experience of being in that driver's seat, receiving a text message, and making the mistake of taking one's eyes off the road. A hard-hitting message followed to complete the communication. Then, what was hoped for actually happened: the video of this activations went very viral.

Actually, the point of this communication was for the audience in the theatre not to be aware of the piece we created. They were to expect a normal movie viewing experience. Then only found out later about the in cinema/mobile experience as it happened. After the experience was recorded, it was then released to comm blogs, where it went very viral within days. A number of influential publications, both online and off, carried the story of this piece of communication, drawing millions of people to youtube and other sources to view.

While a corporate image piece, such as this, can't easily be quantified in terms of sales, the results can be quantified for "Eyes on the Road" in terms of numbers of views—27 million, just 2 months after launching—in seeing it become the top auto viral during the months of June and July, and gaining a earned media value of over US$4.5 million. In addition, VW has received countless requests for its use in educating the public about the dangers of mobile use behind the wheel by groups as diverse as police departments in the US, as well as viral marketing specialists in Singapore. In addition, a quote quote from the client, VW marketing director, Helen Wu: "I've seen quite a few safety communication pieces for Volkswagen around the world, but this is the most immersive messaging on the subject I've ever seen."