June sees Swedish car brand Volvo leverage rising interest in football and particularly Euro 2016 by releasing a new campaign fronted by the country’s captain and soccer superstar Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The campaign, developed with agency Forsman & Bodenfors, spans social media, digital, video on demand and its TV work will air in various markets to coincide with Sweden’s Euro 2016 games.
The initiative’s spearheaded 3-minute and 20-second TV commercial, called ‘Prologue’ and promoting the launch of the car manufacturer’s new V90 model, builds its narrative around Ibrahimovic speaking about his turbulent upbringing in Sweden and the attitude and mentality that drove him to become (arguably) Sweden’s greatest ever player.
The underlying message is one of ‘difference’ and ‘thinking differently’: different people come from different places and see cars differently.
Volvo’s product USP differentiation bridges both ‘safety’ and ‘ecology, while Zlatan certainly is a poster boy for independently-minded players.
The emotion is enhanced by a powerful new score from world-famous, Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer (who wrote the music for blockbuster movies such as Gladiator, Inception and Interstellar).
The campaign has plenty of the usual digital and social support across platforms such as Twitter,
We proudly present the new #VolvoV90 in “Prologue”, featuring @Ibra_Official. #MadeBySweden https://t.co/fCLpo7ehPXhttps://t.co/dIOzBYrK7a
— Volvo (@volvocarsglobal) May 30, 2016
and Facebook.
‘The campaign is a celebration of the independent mind, of the power that lies in the ability to think differently. There are many similarities between Zlatan’s and Volvo’s journeys. We haven’t gotten to where we are now by doing the same as everyone else,’ explains Anders Gustafsson, Senior Vice President, EMEA at Volvo Car Group.
Comment
Volvo is just one of an avalanche of brands tapping into the rising public patriotism sweeping Europe as UEFA Euro 2016 approaches: in this case a semi ambush of the UEFA tournament’s official automotive partner Hyundai/Kia.
Not only does the Zlatan fronted campaign make the most of the Euro 2016 excitement, but it also leverages the rising media speculation and fan interest surrounding Ibrahimovic next club.
The former Paris Saint-Germain striker’s contract in France has come to an end and the sports pages across Europe are full of transfer speculation around the player.
The timing certainly seems to be working as the spot has notched up 2.8 million YouTube views in the first 48 hours since it was posted on Volvo’s video channel.
This campaign follows on from previous marketing initiatives linking Volvo and Zlatan.
Indeed, the player and the auto marquee last worked on an advert together back in 2014 when a Tv spot saw the eclectic, enigmatic forward recite the Swedish national anthem while hunting in remote Swedish countryside.
Impressively, this ad attracted more than 6m views on YouTube.
Other notable recent campaigns fronted by the swedish striker range from the UN World Food Programme’s award winning ‘805m Names’ (see case study), to Nike’s ‘The Last Game’ initiative for the Brazil 2014 World Cup (see case study).
Links
Volvo YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/user/VolvoCarsNews
Volvo Twitter:
https://twitter.com/volvocarsglobal
Volvo Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Volvo/
Volvo Google+:
https://plus.google.com/u/1/+VolvoCars/posts
Volvo Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/volvocars/
Volvo Web:
Zlaatan Ibrahimovic Web:
Forsman & Bodenfors
