The Brief

We sent one simple EDM that created a 60 second film, a commemorative book, 16 hours of content, and an endless supply of social posts. At the heart of the Peoples’ Film project was a direct targeting of VW fans – owners, members of VW car clubs and other fanatics. We sent them a simple EDM – not asking for their money, but for their memories. The direct response from them was overwhelming. From only these memories in the form of photographs and footage, we created a 60 second TV commercial which ran on national TV, a collectors coffee table book given to all new VW owners, and endless social content. And most importantly we reminded the whole of NZ of the latent love they had for Volkswagen.

Creative Execution

A simple EDM was sent to car clubs and fanatics and asked them to spread the word. We asked for people to share their memories of their Volkswagen and become part of Volkswagen’s 60 year history. We also asked them to spread the word to others that might like to be involved. Material was submitted to a purpose-built, drag-and-drop site and as material was uploaded we shared some of it on facebook and inspired more involvement. That cycle is still providing us wth social content today.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

Any New Zealander who sees Volkswagen as premium, out of reach, cold & bereft of personality. We knew we had a lot of people out there that loved VW once but we had no idea who they were. If we wanted to have people reconnect with the brand we had to reignite that love they once had. We couldn’t connect directly, so we had other advocates do it for us. Our target of new car buyers all had fond memories of VW from their past. But they’d largely forgotten. Many VW owners now relied on rational product based reasons for buying. They needed to be reminded – why they had loved VW in the past by rekindling their own memories and experiences.

Results

People rummaged through their lofts, dug out old photos, and shot some new stuff so that they could be involved. Our direct campaign saw consumers seek and submit enough material to create a 60” film, a commemorative book, and endless social content. 77,000+ online views – 99 times more than any other local piece of Volkswagen content. 19,182 emails saw a 5% response rate: 961 individual submissions. VW community grew 52%. “It was a car salesman’s dream, a simple EDM that got people to send us their details and ask us to get back to them” Tom Ruddenklau, Marketing Director, Volkswagen