2012 Silver Best direct response print advertising including inserts

Client Volkswagen

How did the campaign make a difference?This campaign proved that the Volkswagen up! is a small car with big car qualities, with the world's smallest print campaign. It outperformed ambitious targets, beating the expected response rate by 20%.

What details of the strategy make this a winning entry? The launch of the stylish new Volkswagen up! needed to engage a broad audience of prospective new car buyers, persuade them to hand over their contact details, and drive brochure and test drive requests. The up! was a latecomer to a very crowded marketplace, with almost zero awareness among consumers. To add to the challenge, the campaign kicked off months ahead of the main launch – so no broadcast support. Research revealed that the up! was likely to appeal most strongly to older affluent families downsizing from a larger family car or buying an additional small car and young professionals who needed a small car designed for city life. These two audiences are united by a common scepticism: that compact city cars lack the space, functionality and build quality of larger models. This work set out to prove that big doesn’t always equal best. To convey the idea that this fantastic little car is cleverly compact, an insert was designed to express this concept not only in its message, but through the medium itself.

How did creativity bring the strategy to life? The Compact Chronicle was an insert formatted as a miniature newspaper. Printed on real newsprint, product points were delivered across the mini-newspaper's sections to mimic the look and feel of a broadsheet. This unusual disruptive format perfectly expressed how a host of clever specs can be packed into a surprisingly small space. A front page news story introduced the up! and its key features. The main article addressed our audience’s concerns head-on, by describing the feel and build quality of a car twice its size… the copy brought the whole concept alive. Written in a journalistic style, it brilliantly delivered the warmth and wit of Volkswagen’s characteristic tone. There was even a resized brand press ad to complete the concept.

Results This cost-effective campaign outperformed its ambitious response rate targets by 20%.

Team Nick Moffat, Jo Jenkins, Joseph Pirrie, Jo Powell, Carl Mackenzie