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Case Study:
VW - Setting the stage for success

VW had great creative in the Super Bowl. But as VW's media agency, our job wasn't just about placing these ads; it was about setting the stage for success and tirelessly leveraging positive momentum as it unfolded.

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So what did we do?

Based on consumer Super Bowl behaviour, we established a strategy to capitalise on buzz preceding, during and after the game leveraging diverse rich media ad formats through search and contextual channels. We also used Volkswagen-owned social channels as an integral part of our digital activation, using Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for all brand-focussed news, content and enthusiast dialogue.

Some major highlights included:

Pre-Super Bowl:

  • MediaCom developed the concept of seeding teaser videos, and eventually the full spots, a week before Super Bowl. This efort received major buzz-to the tune of 13.7 million views prior to the game.
  • We also gained the opportunity for MSN and Yahoo! to feature the Passat spot and custom editorial on their homepages as value-add. Subsequently, over 120 additional blogs and media outlets mentioned the spots including, Perez Hilton, AdWeek, New York Times, MotorTrend, BrandWeek and Jalopnik to name a few.

On Super Bowl Sunday:

  • Beyond the spots themselves, we secured exclusive ownership of ESPN's mobile site the day of the Super Bowl to be part of the conversation before, during and after the game. We then mplemented a retargeting strategy against users that saw the spots via YouTube to serve them with additional consideration driving messages.

Postgame:

  • Secured the homepage of YouTube the day after the Super Bowl to capitalise on the post-game buzz and ensure that VW was a big part of the chatter. To further sustain the buzz the Super Bowl spots generated, additional video content (e.g., behind the scenes, bloopers, etc.) continue to be distributed following the Super Bowl game.

Results:

  • Our paid search campaign skyrocketed with a 480% increase the day of the game. Since then, daily visits to VW.com are up 127%.
  • On YouTube, "The Force" commercial (posted above) has received over 36 million views to date, with "Black Beetle" (below) ad being watched over 4 million times.

From February 1st to February 7th (Super Bowl was Feb. 6th):

  • Daily Facebook interaction rates (likes and comments) were up 214%, and VW added over 12,000 fans to their Facebook community giving them a total of 683,790 fans.
  • On Twitter, the average click-through per tweet was 820, an increase of 925%. During this same time period VW added 500+ followers.

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