The first brand campaign in seven years.
The joy of driving is the inspiration behind DDB’s brand campaign for Volkswagen Group Australia, that goes to the core truth of driving a Volkswagen.
The creative concept is centred around the simple life of a lighthouse keeper working and living on an island. With little reason to drive his car around the small island, it is the mail delivery that gives him the opportunity to get behind the wheel of his Volkswagen and experience the joy of driving.
Launching last night, the brand campaign is Volkswagen’s first in seven years and introduces a new and enduring brand platform for the automotive company and the platform ‘Let’s go for a drive’ that is led by the power of television for brand building and emotional connection.
The campaign is important for Volkswagen because it focused the company with a North Star and will build in more desirability and feeling into the brand given the competitive market dynamics with new entrants and product volatility. Film is a key storytelling vehicle to build this emotion.
Directed by Australian commercial director Steve Rogers from Revolver, 'Let's go for a drive' draws inspiration from the creative philosophy where the creative idea and execution is as important as the message.
DDB executive creative director, Matt Chandler, says working with an iconic brand such as Volkswagen needed an innovative concept that would go beyond the functional and that with Volkswagen, the experience of spending time in a quality car is something everyone deserves to experience.
“It’s not every day you get the opportunity to develop work for such an iconic brand that has such a rich heritage of advertising. With all that past work in mind, we wanted to tell a very simple story, beautifully," he says.
"One that brings to life the simple joys of taking even the shortest drive. We’re very proud of this little tale and very fortunate to have brought it to life with such great clients and production partners.”
Volkswagen passenger vehicles managing director, Michal Szaniecki, says the company had complete faith in DDB's bold yet simplistic approach to the campaign.
“There are great synergies between DDB and Volkswagen, both in the present and in years gone by, and we have seen that play out throughout the development of this campaign," says Szaniecki.
"We felt a connection to the creative concept from the beginning and felt it spoke directly to who we are as a brand and how we want people to feel when driving our cars."
DDB creative partner, Jenny Mak, says that working with Volkswagen ignited a depth of creativity among the team to ensure they conveyed the transformative power of driving a Volkswagen, and that needed to come across in the campaign.
“Great cars don’t just take you somewhere, they make you feel something. And some cars simply do it better than others. There’s a transformative power that comes from spending time in a quality car, and it’s a power everyone deserves to experience," says Mak.
"The brand campaign is offering an invitation to people to remember what driving can be – an invitation that says - “let’s go for a drive."
In 2024, the Volkswagen Group will launch numerous new models on the market, including many all-electric vehicles such as the Volkswagen ID.4, ID.5 and the ID. Buzz.
The TV campaign, which launched Sunday, 25 February is running nationwide and is supported by out-of-home, digital & social.
Credits:
Agency: DDB
National Chief Creative Officer – Stephen de Wolf
Executive Creative Director – Matt Chandler
Creative Partner – Jenny Mak
Associate Creative Director – Simon Koay
Associate Creative Director – Steven Hey
Head of Brand Performance - Michael Sinclair
Senior Strategist – Tom Witcombe
Head of Integrated Content – Adrian Jung
Senior Producer – Liz Nunan
Managing Partner – Nick Russo
Senior Business Director – Nicole Drabsch
Client: Volkswagen Australia
Managing Director - Michal Szaniecki
General Manager Marketing and Product - Ralph Beckmann
Brand Communications and Sponsorship Specialist - Peter Perivolarellis
Production Company: Revolver
Director - Steve Rogers
Managing Director/Co-Owner - Michael Ritchie
Executive Producer/Partner - Pip Smart
Producer - Caroline Kruck
DOP - Simon Duggan
Production Designer - Steven Jones-Evans
Edit House: Arc Edit
Editor - Jack Hutchings
Post Production: Alt VFX
Post Supervisor - Jay Hawkins
Colourist - Trish Cahill
Sound House: Rumble
Sound Design - Tone Aston
