2023 Silver Automotive

Agency: Iris London

Client: Suzuki Cars UK

Entry Title: Launching Suzuki. Good Different.

Executive Summary

Suzuki faced a business challenge. The brand wasn’t disliked, but indifference was its enemy. It needed to increase consideration, build emotional engagement, and engineer disruptive reappraisal.

Strategy

Research identified an interesting truth: the brand’s customers like the idea of driving the ‘best kept secret’ on the road; being ‘'in the know’; they like to be different. This insight allowed the team to embrace being for the 1%—what makes Suzuki special.

Then it was down to highlight unique values:

• We offer the tech you need, as standard; you don't need to layer on £1,000s of extras to get the car you want.
• Quality that surpasses the expectations of the brand, and the price point.
• Hybrid as standard; doing your bit shouldn’t cost, so you don’t pay more.
• Number one for trust: top automotive brand for customer service in the UK.

Creativity

‘Suzuki. Good Different’ is about being able to offer a fresh alternative, where the brand avoids the rules followed by competitors, to offer an unexpectedly brilliant experience. From the way it thinks and acts, it aims to do things differently, to make driving better for customers, from the showroom to the road.

The team led with an omni-channel approach to portray its commitment to the proposition. It began with a TV ad, which encapsulated the sense of difference, and launched complementary content across media.

Results

The campaign received an exceptional 1.63 spike rating, with only 7.6% of all ads rating above 1.32—highlighting the short-term sales potential, derived from strength of branding and intensity of emotional response. A 97% fluency rating, measuring the strength of branding in the ad, was 12% above the industry average.

Digital innovation saw optimised YouTube assets create a 41% search lift, and a 28% lift in ad recall. Instagram Reels, with a custom ad to make a splash with a younger audience, achieved +9.5pts brand uplift among 18 to 24s.

Brand tracking reported an increase in positive associations by 26% over a nine-month period with significant increases in associations surrounding brand pillars: trust, quality, and value.

The Team

Suzuki Cars UK - Alex Key, Head of Marketing - Jodie Brooke, Senior Brand Communication Manager - Dale Wyatt, Director Sales and Marketing Suzuki Cars - Floyd Bruno, Senior Digital Innovations Manager

Iris London - Vicky Marlow, Business Director - Ross Taylor, Group Creative Director - Tom Edwards, Senior Strategy Director

Contributors

Jellyfish UK, RBH, The Seven Stars, Noah London and Merman