Younger consumers are changing consumption patterns to favour access over ownership, ensuring that they're getting the very latest product and best technology available.
Today, we have subscription-services for coffee, tea, TV, music, movies, books… just about any aspect of our lives. So why not cars?
Care by Volvo is a new subscription-based car-buying experience. The launch of Volvo's new car, specifically designed for a younger audience, the XC40 is 'The Car You Can Subscribe to'.
The overarching business goal was to launch this simpler, subscription-based car-buying process, and while doing so introduce the all-new Volvo XC40 SUV (the only model available at the time for subscription). Both products were designed to attract millennial car shoppers.
Our primary media objective was to reach a relevant audience, and raise awareness of this new, game-changing way of owning a car. Volvo was showcased as the leader in this innovative new space to get a millennial audience to sign-up for 'The Car You Can Subscribe To'.
This minimalist approach to ownership harkens back to Volvo's Scandinavian design aesthetics, while pushing a completely new and innovative mobility solution.
The paid social campaign was planned across all major social media platforms: Facebook, Instagram; Snap; Twitter.
An audience-first approach was executed to ensure the product-proof points and messaging connected with the right consumer, on the right platform, at the right time to lift awareness, consideration and ultimately sales/subscriptions.
On Facebook and Instagram, we leveraged the "Used To" campaign's social-first video assets with the message of "The Car You Can Subscribe To" across all stages of the purchase funnel. We carefully crafted audiences made-up of: millennial car-shoppers, key lifestyle behaviours and interests, subscription service propensities, and retargeting and lookalike audiences based on key intent signals. To follow-up on the video messaging, we identified consideration intent signals to retarget users on Facebook/Instagram to download the Care by Volvo app.
On Snapchat, the team leveraged a combination of assets from an existing media partnership with the Warner Bros. cinematic release of 'Tomb Raider', and social-first video assets to drive product awareness. Again, using an audience-first approach, and consistent messaging, the team created similar targeting groups to the ones used on Facebook/Instagram based on key lifestyle interests and behaviours, subscription service propensities, and retargeting and lookalike audiences built on key consideration intent signals.
Finally, on Twitter the team leveraged social-first Video Web Cards touting 'The Car You Can Subscribe To' to very similar audiences (and creative) used on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
One of the elements that made the "Care by Volvo" Social Media campaign unique was the audience strategy. By targeting the same audience across multiple social media platforms, we were able to drive incremental frequency to impact message association and product awareness, and drive incremental reach by ensuring we hit users who may not interact on other social media platforms.
See hard results (with numbers) in 'Confidential Information' box. Overall the campaign was a big success.
With the overarching media goals being:
1) Drive awareness of Care by Volvo and the Volvo XC40
2) Stimulate conversions by driving qualified leads to app downloads or dealers
Kantar MillwardBrown (KMB) studies were used to analyse the offline impact and lifts generated by their campaigns. The results showed that Volvo not only met, but far exceeded all campaign goals and objective (see confidential results in next box)
KMB Facebook & Instagram Brand Study: Showed considerable lift in Ad Awareness, Message Associate, and consideration intent. All metrics exceed KMB norms by over 3x
KMB Snapchat Brand Study: Lift in Product Awareness, Ad Awareness, and Message Association.
Offline Industry: Within 4 months of Care by Volvo's launch, Volvo ran out of the entire number of subscriptions it anticipated for the first year, claiming a sizeable percentage of XC40s that were available to customers.
We also had a significant number of app downloads over a month period, surpassing benchmarks, giving us a favorable CPA (cost per acquisition).
