Volvo as a brand has set its target to become an all-electric company by 2030 and carbon neutral by 2040. And the brand was to launch its first Electric Vehicle XC40 Recharge in India.
Objective:
The key objective was to identify innovative ways to launch its EV, that also showcase brand's commitment to planet's future.
Target Audience:
The target audience consisted of people aged 25 and older.
Creative Strategy:
As per research, an average conference attendee produces around 170 kilograms of CO2 emission in a one-day event. Now imagine the carbon emission produced by multiple events, every quarter with thousands of guests?
This insight led to the creation of Volvoverse, the first of its kind long-term sustainable and reusable metaverse platform in the automotive sector that enabled Volvo to give back to society in a more meaningful way.
Metaverse has been the new frontier of web 3.0. However, in India it was limited to parties/virtual display, but Volvo gave it a real purpose. Inspired by clean energy, Volvo made the debut of Volvoverse by launching the electric vehicle, XC40 Recharge, in India.
Context:
The Volvo CEO stated, "We are part of the problem and therefore, we need to be part of the solution." Volvo believes sustainability is as important as safety. However, electrifying the fleet is not enough as there are many ways in which a brand contributes to carbon emission.
A three-day event with over one thousand invitees, travelling from different corners of the country releases around 530 metric tons of CO2. This is as big as consuming 1,233 barrels of oil. This insight made the brand to come up with a more innovative yet long-term sustainable alternate for channels and activities that are a huge contributor of CO2 and launch Volvoverse.
Overall Campaign Execution:
By becoming the first luxury car brand in India to launch its first electric vehicle on metaverse, Volvo and XC40 Recharge immediately became a talking point in media and automobile industry. And the entire campaign budget went to digital as the launch platform Volvoverse can be accessed easily through smart mobile devices.
Mobile Execution:
Volvoverse was the first of its kind sustainable and reusable metaverse platform to launch its first electric vehicle XC40 Recharge. The company hosted the first ever exclusive media interview in Volvoverse with a renowned TV channel CNBC Storyboard featuring host Shibani Gharat, Mindshare CEO and head of marketing at Volvo. It was the first ever WPP collaboration created 100 percent in-house.
With consumers becoming more conscious than ever before with respect to harmful carbon emissions, electric vehicles stood out as the emerging offering for all categories including premium segment.
And seeing the growing interest around EVs, the key luxury auto players had harnessed the consumer need and were already riding big by introducing various new launches at massive scale.
However, before the launch of XC40 Recharge Volvo's product portfolio included only ICE (internal combustion engine) and hybrid cars. The annual sales target was achieved within minutes, and also generated these results:
Volvo's metaverse launch was highly praised by media, industry, and consumers. And with this launch, the brand saw an unprecedented demand for XC40 Recharge and the brand reached its annual sales target in just two hours. Search trends gained significant uplift and Volvo received seven times more queries than average bookings.
