No matter how complex modern media has become, this campaign is a great demonstration that the medium is still the message – a perfect example of media channels not just delivering the message but also bringing the essence of a product to life themselves.

As part of its commitment to being carbon neutral by 2050, VW developed the ID.3, the world’s first fully electric car to be produced and delivered 100% net carbon neutral.

Our task for 2020? Demonstrate VW’s eco-credentials and deliver 2020’s sales targets in the toughest trading conditions imaginable.

When a brand has had negative PR around its eco-credentials - as Volkswagen has in the past - you need to work harder than the competition to re-earn trust.

Because consumers who value the environment hold brands to higher standards.

• They’re 60% more likely to look for substantiation of claims & certification on products before they buy

• They’re 70% more likely to buy products which demonstrate to others what they believe in

• And they are a group who hold brands to the greatest account on sustainability. (Source for all: TGI)

The eco-friendly target audience for the all-electric ID.3 isn’t an audience who have the wool pulled over their eyes.

That meant our launch media campaign had to go BEYOND delivering the message in the right media.

It had to prove Volkswagen’s commitment through actions – our choice of media - not just the words on the ads.

Volkswagen’s new ID.3 is made and delivered net carbon neutral.

But there’s no point in selling the environmental benefits of Volkswagen’s electric mobility if the media plan isn’t environmentally friendly.

So, we set out to create a launch media strategy that was as clean as the ID.3 itself.

That’s why we made the decision to USE CHANNELS THAT NOT ONLY DELIVERED THE SCALE NEEDED FOR A BRAND-NEW CAR LAUNCH but to also USE THE CHANNELS THAT HAD THE LEAST IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT.

Our strategy would see product benefit, brand message and media placement all acting in perfect harmony - going beyond words and deliver Volkswagen’s eco commitment through every facet of the comms plan.

EATING POLLUTION

The literal poster boys of the campaign were a series of OOH murals.

In major cities across the UK, we painted mural ads for the ID.3 using a unique air purifying paint called Airlite.

This meant that the ads for the ID.3 were actively ‘eating’ pollution from the air.

Every 100 square meters of paint used delivered the same effect as if we’d been able to plant 100 square meters of mature woodland.

When the launch campaign ended, we left a clean air legacy by painting over the murals with white Airlite paint which would continue the job. Across a year offsetting the emissions of 18 cars.

We also extensively used carbon-neutral digital OOH locations which only use green energy to power their screens.

Finally, we delivered a time-lapse video of the mural sites being painted and ID.3’s message of carbon neutrality across TV, Social and VoD.

Putting the ID.3 green credentials at the heart of our media planning paid off.

• 20m+ Brits saw our pollution-eating ads.

• The air cleansing OOH sites made quite a splash, picking up PR coverage in mainstream titles such as the Daily Mail and the Sun, delivering an incremental media value of £110,000

• The campaign drove over 1m web visits, with the ID.3 beating its 2020 sales targets by +9% (with December +28% over target in one of the automotive industries slowest sales months).

• And in just its second month on the market, the ID.3 became the UK’s best-selling electric car, overtaking its closest competitor the Kia e-Niro.