What do you do when the car you’re launching has all the right elements to captivate buyers, but its name is standing in the way?

The Geely Monjaro, a remarkable SUV, faced bias due to its Chinese origin.

So, we stayed away from typical category tactics and built an ecosystem led by a live on-ground experience to entice people to experience the design, craftsmanship and features, before revealing the name of the car.

Nameless Car is a fully unbranded gamified on-ground experience with a supporting online ecosystem; casting biases aside, and winning people over with true quality.

The UAE automotive market is a crowded battlefield of big-name players.

A bit of a challenge for the underdog – that’s us.

The market is dominated by Japanese, European, and American mega-giants.

Plus, new competition from Chinese and Korean auto-makers is emerging.

The SUV category is growing, thanks to a population rise and everyone wanting to level up to bigger cars.

Including the D-SUV segment.

D-SUV, you say?

SUVs with some luxury features and larger size, without being the most expensive ones.

Perfect for the ‘affordable luxury’ seekers, a significant portion of the UAE’s social tapestry– those looking to upgrade from their everyday ride:

• The life planning couples – career-focused, money-driven.

• The upwardly mobile young families – parental investors, social shoppers and money-managers.

• And the techie adventurers – geeking out over features and specs.

In the UAE, there is a cultural inclination towards associating cars with status.

Even for expats, who come to ‘make it’, societal value is placed on material success.

Consumers feel that buying into the D-SUV segment is an opportunity to show they’ve arrived at some aspirational status point in life, driving a high ride with a powerful presence.

There were approximately 35 individual model propositions in the D-SUV category in which the Monjaro sits. With a lot of the well-known brands claiming the lifestyle aspiration territory, making a mark proved challenging for Geely.

We’re Geely.

Who?

A Chinese automaker and affordable luxury brand, new in the UAE market.

We were launching our peak-level SUV.

The Geely Monjaro.

(Try saying it quickly – Get it?)

But we had a MOUNTAIN of obstacles.

As a newcomer to a hyper-competitive car segment with a name no one knew, we were facing skepticism.

In the car world, legacy and established origins drive familiarity and trust. People buy what they know.

Not only that.

Prejudice related to our Chinese roots brought up negative assumptions about quality and reliability.

The ‘Made in China’ syndrome.

We dubbed our core challenge: the badge bias.

No matter how objectively good the performance and quality are, preconceived biases were an instant mood-kill.

Our objectives?

Establishing our brand, driving up 1) website traffic, 2) prospects, 3) test drive bookings and 4) overall sales.

An uphill climb we were ready for.

Our objectives were to drive up 1) website traffic, 2) prospects, 3) test drive bookings and 4) overall sales.

The experience generated significant buzz, amplified by footfall, an online paid strategy and organic coverage and shares.

1) Website traffic went up +1288%: during the month following the activation, website visits exploded by nearly13x the average from previous months.

2) Lead generation rose by +69%: the total number of inquiries from prospective buyers surged in the month following the activation.

3) Test drive bookings increased by 140%

4) Overall sales growth of the Monjaro went up by +54% over the 2-months campaign period.

AN UNBRANDED BRAND EXPERIENCE

“Guess who I am”.

While other brands tried to inscribe their names into people’s lives, we removed ours.

Diverging from conventional automotive launch strategies, we curated a compelling on-ground experience at a bustling UAE mall, inviting people to explore quality and luxury beyond the badge.

On-ground: Gamifying the discovery experience, visitors guessed our car’s brand and inscribed it on the vehicle. Special prizes and an interactive content creation booth enhanced engagement.

Online: Expanding the experience digitally, we leveraged participatory social content, driving more footfall.

Amplifying the Monjaro’s big reveal via paid media and strategic OOH placements, we invited sign-ups for test drives and inquiries.

SPONTANEOUS SOCIAL BUZZ

The on-ground excitement drew content creators sparking impromptu coverage, complemented by organic engagement on our owned social and UGC – resulting in social engagements, search queries and website traffic helping us win the discovery challenge.