How Volvo
became Sexier than Kylie
Every couple of weeks, Steve sends me an email
attachment or a web-link that generates at least
a smile, sometimes a guffaw. (We'll call him Steve
so that all our mutual acquaintances know exactly
whom I'm writing about.) The laughter usually
comes when he recounts a recent real-life episode.
He has a gift for making the mundane funny.
A few weeks ago he went to a rugby club dinner.
Usual form: black tie, rubber chicken, a living-legend
giving a speech, too much drink and the mother-of-all
hangovers the next day. Plus a charity auction.
Steve, alcohol and auctions are not a cheap combination.
The next day - through his cranial haze - Steve
sent me an email, triumphantly announcing that
he was now the proud owner of a pair of Kylie
Minogue's knickers. www.kylieshop.com
"She personally donated them," enthused Steve's
note. "They're signed!" (I should point out that
the email wasn't just to me; it went to a lo-o-ng
distribution list.)
Within moments, broadband wires across nations
were humming with replies (Reply All). Why did
you buy them? How much did you pay? Have you told
your wife? This traffic went on for a couple of
hours, Steve digging his self-created hole deeper
and deeper as he begged that this information
- especially the size of the 'donation' - was
kept from Mrs Steve.
Then it hit me. This wasn't just friendly badinage
at a friend's expense. We were willing participants
in a viral marketing campaign - and one in which
the vendor had not only broken down our resistance
to such messages, but had completely changed the
economic model. Here's the thesis I sent to the
distribution list:
- Brief (excuse the pun): underwear vendor asks
marketing agency how to make the promotional
budget work harder.
- Analysis: agency has identified that the people
most likely to buy Kylie knickers are men purchasing
gifts for their partners.
- Problem: men who buy underwear do so only
at Christmas and birthdays, with their collars
turned up and trying not to make eye contact
with the shop assistant.
- Question: how to get men to speak about the
delicate subject of women's underwear?
- Creative leap: make a sample available in
an environment where a purchase is a sign of
masculinity.
- Stroke of genius: not only will the purchaser
tell all his friends (probably by email), but
he's paying all the costs of the promotion.
Of course, I don't know for certain that the
latest celebrity branding turned up at a rugby
club auction as a promotion. But the idea that
it is part of a viral campaign does have a ring
of possibility, in a 'why-didn't-I-think-of-that-for-my-business?'
sort of way.
So we all had an additional laugh at Steve's
expenses, a few of us (ahem, them) bought Kylie's
finest for our (their) wives, and the subject
was forgotten. Until last weekend, when I saw
an ad in the national press.
In the middle of the cinema listings, a 1/8th
page promoting a short film called 'Confidence'.
Being a bit of a buff, and not having heard of
this one, I went to the web site www.routev50.com.
The film stars Robert Downey Jr (he of 'Chaplin',
'Ally McBeal' and rehab fame) as a man stranded
in the middle of nowhere, trying to find his way.
Directed by Stephen Frears ('My Beautiful Laundrette',
'High Fidelity'), it's an eight-minute allegory,
in the style of Jorge Luis Borges, which centres
on the notion that all the important things we
search for in life - like confidence - are already
within us.
The film has very high production values, a clever
script, strong acting, and a great soundtrack.
And it's produced by Volvo.
It is one of the most profound marketing initiatives
I have seen in a very long time. It works on so
many levels, and there are many lessons for anyone
in business.
First, it makes Volvo sexy (ever thought you'd
see those two words in the same sentence?). The
Downey character turns up in a Volvo, drives around
in a Volvo and departs in a Volvo. Cinephiles
will hold their heads in their hands and weep
about product placement. But they miss the point.
This isn't a movie with a product in; it's an
advertisement where, like Chitty Chitty Bang Bang,
the car's the star. As a positioning statement,
it's incredibly effective.
So even if you think your product is in a cul-de-sac,
it is possible to escape.
Secondly, I believe it represents the future
of broadcast - or rather narrowcast - advertising.
If I was a television executive, and I saw 'Confidence',
I might not sleep well for the next couple of
nights.
(Before he left the BBC, Director General Greg
Dyke spoke of the challenge of holding the attention
of the 'web generation'. The Volvo movie - promoted
on the page, distributed over the internet - is
an example of that challenge. It denies revenues
from commercial TV companies, and it challenges
producers to come up with new formats and ways
of telling stories. Why are sitcoms half-an-hour?
Why should we sit through 90/120 minutes movies?)
Thirdly, it hooked me just as Steve had been
hooked by Kylie's lingerie. Within minutes I had
sent the URL link to anyone I thought might be
interested. And even though I knew I was promoting
Volvo - just as I'm doing now - I didn't resent
that because there was a fair exchange between
me and the company. I was/am happy to send its
message to others because it is wrapped in interesting
content.
Which is, ultimately, the challenge to any company
in this information-rich world: You might know
what you want to say, and you might know who you
want to reach - but what's the motivation for
that group to act?
Kylie's auction was interesting because the method
of distribution - planned or otherwise - led to
greater visibility among a target market at no
cost.
But Volvo is sexy - because the way Frears and
his writers present a hitherto boring marque,
and because it is associated with a new, ground-breaking
way of reaching and moving a new audience.
Not much to ask of your next communications program,
is it? |
