Racing the Sun | Volvo
Outer space is the ultimate look to the future, and it takes “innovation first” thinking to travel there and discover the possibilities. Volvo proved this by bringing the 2017 U.S. eclipse to the globe by outfitting its 2018 XC60’s with 360° cameras to capture the eclipse of the century.
Challenge
During the launch of Volvo’s new model, the 2017 U.S. “eclipse of the century” would be traveling across the country. With the creative concept being tied to outer space, we aligned with the cultural moment to create a strong affiliation between Volvo and the experience. Searches for “eclipse” spiked within all major metro areas and “eclipse fever” was spreading. The insight: awe-inspiring moments open people to new ideas and molds new affinities. However, our luxury buyers primarily live within coastal metropolitan communities, which was not in the path of the eclipse. We would bring that experience to them.
Creative idea
Volvo would launch the XC60 by live-casting the eclipse of the century. We would outfit the XC60 with 360-degree cameras and create a brand association with one of the most talked about, most photographed and first major astronomical event in the U.S. in the era of social media. On event day, the eclipse was broadcast live by 2018 Volvo XC60s specially outfitted with advanced 360° cameras with 44 satellite uplinks over 2500 miles that were quickly pushed to multiple channels in time with the eclipse path. The stakes were high for this two-hour first-ever 4k 360° live broadcast that also featured VR animation and a live helicopter eclipse viewing. On the ground, customers at dealerships experienced it through Oculus headsets.
Results
On the day of the eclipse, the live VR video had 24 million video starts, making it the most watched live VR experience in history—certified by Guinness World Records. It was also the second-highest day in 2017 for both unique visitors and video starts on the CNN network, behind only Obama’s Presidential Inauguration. The event had 472,000 concurrent streams with 8.6 million viewers. There were 2,000 searches for “Volvo dealers near me,” and a 43 percent increase in visits to volvocars.com. Volvo, who generally has a low recall rate saw 73% of surveyed respondents recognized this as a Volvo activation. Purchase intent was increased 22 percent and the likelihood to recommend increased 18 percent. Most importantly, there were 13,300 test drives requested. Now that’s brand entertainment that breaks through with extreme reach.