VW EscapeTV

VW EscapeTV was born out of a challenge we were asked to solve for Volkswagen Belgium. Our client was facing a loss of market share in the 18-28 years segment. Youngsters saw the brand as ""too expensive and too rational"", although this perception was actually wrong. After the huge success of the Golf series in the past, Volkswagen was no longer "top-of-mind" when young drivers bought their first car. The time was ripe for a more inspirational, creative approach to rejuvenate the VW brand.

At first sight, the Internet would appear to be the best medium to reach this target group. However, if you look carefully at their media consumption, youngsters do not really "surf". As digital natives who have never experienced a ""disconnected"" world, they spend their time in a global ecosystem consisting of web browsers, instant messaging clients, iPods, mobile phones, PSP, etc. The borders between their social life and their media consumption are blurred: interactive digital media are, at the same time, the platform to stay in touch with friends and the dominant channel to find information and entertainment.

VW EscapeTV strives, therefore, to reach the ""always on"" young consumer through a TV-channel that you can watch wherever and whenever you want on all the new alternative devices. Throw away your old TV-cable and discover a new downloadable TV show that is synonymous with freedom... just like the very first car you buy when you are 18 - 28 years old.

At the content level, VW EscapeTV is a monthly magazine focusing on celebrities, movie releases, music news, video games and all the cultural and entertainment events supported by Volkswagen in Belgium (the advertainment dimension). As Belgium counts two main official languages (French and Dutch), each new issue is produced in two different versions with distinct content and programme hosts.

The campaign consisted of two phases.

• During the teasing phase, we created a buzz by organising an online interactive casting. Surfers could record footage with their webcam and submit it for public appraisal on the EscapeTV website. The candidates who won the majority of votes were selected as programme hosts. Additionally, we spread the rumour about a mysterious new TV channel through bootlegged reports on blogs, ""real fake"" classified ads on websites...
• After the official launch, we continued to foster the success of word of mouth by spreading the show content to different ""Web 2.0"" platforms such as YouTube, Flickr, Del.icio.us, MySpace. We also added a PR layer on the launch day by sending an anonymous package to Belgian newspapers and television companies. Inside the package was a piece of broken television cable and an anonymous message: "Today break free from the television cable, surf on www.vwescape.tv".

Conclusions

Why this project makes sense:

• It's "more", it's different, it's hype; it speaks to young people (trendy design, use of video, relevant content, cool, young and fresh tone of voice).
• It reaches youngsters where and when they want (not only via the Internet but also on different mobile devices, from the iPod to the mobile phone).
• It harnesses the "word of mouth" aspect of the web (multi-presence: the site, iTunes, RSS, etc.).

The results are tremendous: about 40.000 viewers watch every new episode (a figure to be compared with the 10 million population of Belgium). This project generated a great deal of PR coverage in the media and received many awards, in Belgium as well as abroad.

Last but not least, VW EscapeTV also gave birth to Emocion TV for Seat (http://www.emocion.tv), a sister project that goes even further in user generated content and the ""word-of-mouse"" approach.

Visit : www.vwescape.tv