In Australia, we take rescuing seriously. We have rescue services to save swimmers from strong currents, boats from wild seas and walkers from desolate bushland. We even rescue people from deadly wildlife attacks and when the rescuers get in trouble they get rescued! But recently we noticed a group of Australians who needed to be saved from an even deadlier environment…work!

With this insight in mind, we launched a rescue service of our very own, with the all-new Subaru Impreza XV at its heart. A Subaru funded public service dedicated to rescuing Australians from their mind-numbing workplaces and reconnecting them with their birthright-the great outdoors.

We launched the campaign with a series of strategically placed outdoor messages that recognised the symptoms of workplace mundanity. At the same time, rich media banners reached out to deskbound office workers stuck in front of their computers. After this we launched our unique online emergency centre designed to offer assistance to those who could no longer cope. Online reaction tests allowed us to assess a patient’s level of lethargy, and we could even deliver a full appraisal of their lack-lustre lives by analyzing their facebook content. The most serious cases were assessed, and those judged to be in dire need were delivered in the Subaru XV into by the hands of a team of celebrities chosen to deliver a much-needed life experience designed to reconnect and remind them of a world beyond the workplace.

For the first time, Subaru Australia leveraged multiple social media channels to create widespread online dialogue around a new product launch. Close to 7,000 unique users interacted with our online tool for an average of 3.10 mins.

Within eight weeks Subaru had sold all Subaru XV’s. Their sales target had been achieved in a quarter of the time projected. Subaru established a significant foothold in a market segment they had previously not occupied- Crossover vehicles. More importantly, Subaru had begun a conversation with a whole new target audience they’d previously never appealed to.