DDB Sydney’s new campaign film for Volkswagen is about joy. The joy of driving and the car you’d drive if you didn’t have to. It’s part of Volkswagen Group Australia’s new brand platform, Let’s Go for a Drive, and its first brand campaign for seven years.
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. The film brings an emotional story to a sector that doesn’t really get into the heart of driving. It leads with TV to maximise that emotional connection.
The film was directed by Revolver’s highly awarded director, Steve Rogers and the new campaign draws inspiration from the creative philosophy where the creative idea and execution are as important as the message.
DDB executive creative director, Matt Chandler commented that 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. 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, added, “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. 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. We are incredibly proud of the outcome and the way it represents the experience of driving with Volkswagen.”
DDB creative partner, Jenny Mak, commented, “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. 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’.”
The TV campaign, launched Sunday, 25 February, and is running across Australia, supported by out-of-home, digital and social.
Credits
Agency: DDB
National Chief Creative Officer: Stephen de Wolf
Executive Creative Director: Matt Chandler
Creative Partner: Jenny Mak
Associate Creative Directors: Simon Koay & 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
