You’ve landed a brief to encourage people to rent out their cars when they’re not using them. Immediately, you start thinking about the positives involved and how to present them creatively. You may, or may not, get people’s attention about an idea they considered until fears got in the way. Fears are difficult to remove.
Car Next Door decided that a provocative campaign was needed. It had a small budget and a lengthy story to tell. So it is running a Facebook campaign that drives people to the blog, Why you shouldn’t rent out your car.
And according to Car Next Door’s digital marketing manager, Keal Wilson, the ad is the most effective campaign Car Next Door has ever run.
“It’s specifically designed to address the common misconceptions and untruths around car sharing. “It has also been extensively tested and is the most effective follow-up pieces of content, believe it or not,” Wilson stated.
“It’s a risky one for sure, but part of its success is addressing the fears people might have sharing their car. If someone has doubts or concerns about renting out their car, they’re going to have a very high chance of clicking on that article and that gives us an opportunity to dispel some of the myths and concerns. The retargeting ad is designed to be served to people who started a vehicle application but never got around to finishing it.”
The blog puts forward every fear a potential car renter could come up with one by one – Car Sharing will be inconvenient, Someone is going to crash it, Someone is going to trash it…and provides a balanced response that counters each. It even admits that it won’t convince everyone… “If you’re the type of person whose idea of a good night is lovingly rubbing down your car with a polishing cloth and painstakingly vacuuming the entirety of your vehicle every second day, you probably aren’t going to be the kind of person who will enjoy sharing their car”…knowing that this sector was never going to be won.