The Campaign

2015 is the final production year of the much-loved Land Rover Defender. To promote sales and increase brand adoration, we capitalised on a unique opportunity to engage a small group of lads. When confronted with the all-consuming responsibilities of adulthood, their first love - a 1957 Series One Land Rover, fell into disrepair. Reluctantly they listed her for sale. Land Rover NZ went above and beyond and covertly bought, restored, and road-tested the vehicle. We then conducted a surprise Valentine’s reunion via a bespoke TVC that aired just once. It instructed the four lads to visit the garage out back to receive the greatest Valentine’s gift ever. The entire process was filmed for online content and cinemas nationwide. We then distributed the content to media outlets accompanied by a press release informing them of Defender’s final year. The stunt was also covered by New Zealand’s leading current affairs show.

Success of the Campaign

Originally intended as a New Zealand only campaign, the content was picked up by 15 markets and translated into 4 languages. It gained 4 million+ views across all channels over Valentine’s weekend. Over 4.7m views across Facebook, 75,000 interactions, and 7.1m post reach. Cost per click was well-below Land Rover standard expected KPI of $0.04. The campaign well exceeded client expectations and became the most watched Land Rover content piece ever. Defender sales were up 235%, four likeable kiwi lads were reunited with their first love, and curiously, thousands of grown men decided to chop onions while watching our film.

Describe how the campaign/entry was launched and executed across each channel in the order of implementation.

The project took around 7 months from the original listing to the reunion. The first stage was to purchase and covertly collect the disrepaired vehicle. The restoration followed, then the road test, TVC / print production, and finally the emotional Valentine’s reunion. The stunt went live the night before Valentine’s Day, launched by Seven Sharp – NZ’s leading current affairs show. The online content was also launched that night via the regional and global Land Rover Facebook pages. The content and press release was distributed to various media outlets and picked up organically. The cinema schedule launched that weekend, and for anyone who hadn’t seen the content the night before, our newspaper gift card went live on Valentine’s Day pushing traffic to Facebook to watch the story unfold. To those that had already viewed the film, it was a charming way to wrap the project.

The project was an instinctive response to an online auction - an opportunistic way to go ‘Above & Beyond’ for a group of loyal Land Rover fans, increase brand adoration, and target relevant media outlets to publicise the final production year of the iconic Land Rover Defender – the direct descendent of the Series One. It was a story about a few that resonated with many – the idea of parting with a prized vehicle due to circumstance was widely identified with and created significant empathy. And ultimately a touch of jealousy. Aside from the obvious ‘love’ association, our content piece also provided much-needed respite for men on a day traditionally geared towards women, especially those misfortunate enough to attend the coinciding cinematic release of 50 Shades of Grey.