Situation

Interstate Batteries is a challenger brand who is heavily outspent in its category. A category that is the classic definition of a grudge purchase – literally the only time most people think about their car’s battery is when it fails to some degree. Not good for brand affinity. We wanted to create an unforgettable impression so, when the time does come for a new battery, drivers ask for Interstate.

Brief

Interstate Batteries are Outrageously Dependable.

Objective

Increase brand awareness and preference to reach two new target audiences: women and millennials.

In each of these vignettes, we open with the surge of electricity from an Interstate battery.

We then reveal that the driver of this vehicle, is, well, let’s try to find a nice word for it: They are “undependable.” One vignette shows an oblivious driver with the gas (or petrol) pump still attached to his gas tank as he drives away. Another shows a holiday-happy pack-rat with her car packed and piled with Christmas décor, merrily driving as the reindeer strapped to the roof rams into an overhead bridge.

The voiceover says, "You can't always depend on [insert name of driver and their driving mishaps], but you can always depend on [his/her] car starting. Because [he/she] has an Interstate battery."

The spots then end with an Interstate Battery logo and the themeline, “Interstate Batteries. Outrageously Dependable.”

Simply put, this was, far and away, the most successful campaign in Interstate Batteries’ history.

The launch campaign drove growth across all major performance metrics with an impressive 13% increase in brand awareness year over year.

Our campaign saw ad recall increase by 16% and prospects increased by 19%.

And our overall paid media efforts increased Interstate Batteries’ bottom line with gross profit ROI by a staggering 35% since the campaign launched and generated the bulk of marketing contributions, driving 9.4%, mostly coming from video.