We quite like this teaser that smoothly combines film and animation to announce a very ‘hip’ party in London. Throughout May and June the Volvo Subject60 launch party will be touring the top 5 European cities – Berlin, London, Paris, Milan and Madrid – to promote the new “naughty” Volvo S60. These parties top off the Subject60 code search campaign; 20 cubes – giving access to the parties – were hidden in the different cities. And readers of the most influential fashion/design/music blogs were hinted about their locations on a map. Through augmented reality app Layar the exact cube locations could be unlocked. As far as we know it’s the first time that Volvo directs its brand so clearly into the direction of ‘hipness’. That sounds like a bit of a stretch. We don’t know about the rest of Europe, but in the Netherlands the sound car brand is primarily driven by doctors, accountants and other reliable folk. So here the positioning might be pushing it one bridge too far. Anyway, the campaign was created by EuroRSCG 4D – Volvo’s digital agency that already for a long time quite successfully runs Volvo’s international online account.

Bit strange. “Your dad and mom have a great surprise for you. We’ve been thinking about the winter holiday, and this year we won’t stay in Tirol. We’ll go to…Holland”. The kids immediately know what that means; the ‘Vaalserberg’ (a shitty hill that cannot be called a mountain) and ‘koek and zopie’ (the term for cookies and a warm drinks sold on the frozen lakes where people ice skate). The son is so thrilled that he asks dad to play some music. Then the voice over: “Our winters are starting to stand out, so you better be prepared. Do the Peugeot winter check.” It’s quite entertaining. And it’s also well produced (First on Mars), directed (Herman Poppelaars), and acted, but it almost makes you wonder whether the idea was there before the client briefing. Created by EuroRSCG.

This Citroën DS5 Twitter Race is the first race ever (as far as we know) via Twitter. The concept is quite simple; you can navigate the DS5 towards yourself via Twitter and win it. We’ve seen a similar concept by Volkswagen and Achtung!, but using Twitter as the navigation tool is new. On the dedicated Facebook page Citroën constantly gives the Twitter crowd a choice (e.g. left or right) and the ‘wisdom’ of crowds decides where it should go. A count down clock decides when the race is over and (this feels as a bit of an anti-climax) when the time is up, the car pulls over and a sign is held up with a message. The first person to tweet this message wins the DS5. At the time of publishing this post there’s about half an hour to go and the car is near Bussum – if you live there start looking out for it. We always wonder what kind of people have time to be engaged in a game that consumes most of your day, but since it’s trending on Twitter (NL) it does get the needed exposure. It was created by EuroRSCG and Perfect Fools.

What we like about this ad is that you can fully imagine these guys sitting in one car and all reacting differently on the crash that got them decapitated. We especially like the stare of the driver, facing his destiny bravely – a nice case of method acting. And of course it’s all well captured by photographer Krijn van Noordwijk (hazazaH). Somewhat ironic maybe that TopGear Magazine asked EuroRSCG to create an ad (yet another – here’s #1) about the risks of driving, but then again, Heineken also asks its customers to drink responsibly.

There’s a new kid in town; Kingsday, a EuroRSCG 4D break away, founded by Sander Volten, Bram de Rooij, Sicco Beerda, and Eric Ytsma (in the photo – taken by Jasper Zwartjes – from left to right). The name is inspired by Queensday, a day that turns Amsterdam into one big party and during which “openness, spontaneity, and entrepreneurship meet”. Since these guys always look ahead – digital is incorporated in their DNA – they are anticipating the succession of the Royal throne by Willem Alexander, who will be taking over from his mother, Queen Beatrix. Hence, Kingsday. The agency wants to merge advertising, PR, and digital, which does sound like the ultimate mix. After all, advertising is mainly good in building a strong message, digital mainly in using state of the art techniques, and PR mainly in seeding. Not many agencies master all of these qualities at the same time. Kingsday’s ambition is to work for both Dutch and international clients and to start playing ‘Champion’s League’ straight away. Though there’s not one big founding client, the agency is talking with many different potential clients, so we trust these talented admen to be back on the pitch soon enough. We wish them all the best!

Good news for Amsterdam. Team Volvo brings together “the best people” from EuroRSCG 4D (Amsterdam), Arnold (Boston) and SapientNitro (Shanghai) to work dedicated on Volvo. All agencies have been working for Volvo before. The unit will start in September with 30 people. Jorian Murray (ex Dye Holloway Murray and ex DDB London) will be leading the pack. The joint agency is going to direct the three most important markets in the world; North America, China and Europe. Murray built up a reputation for building car brands when working for Volkswagen from 1992 till 2007 – allegedly it doubled VW’s market share. Murray said Amsterdam was the city of choice, because it is the creative capital of Europe. Sven de Smet, since June director of global marcom at Volvo, added that Amsterdam attracts international creative talent, has an Anglosaxon focus and is well connected (thanks to Schiphol airport, AAB). We wish Team Volvo the best of luck!

Source: Adformatie