Volvo buried a car, but raised dealership traffic and its company
profile in a treasure-themed campaign for Disney's "Pirates of the
Caribbean."
Family cars. Family entertainment.
It's a winning combination for Volvo, which as of June 28 had logged
almost 32,000 registrants for an online game tied to the latest movie
in Disney's "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise.
The game, which ran June 12 to July 12, was primarily intended to
bring people into Volvo showrooms to sell down the 2006 models before
the 2007 models arrive in September. Not at all incidentally, though,
it's also meant to help Volvo shed its safe, sedate reputation in favor
of a more fun and adventurous (though still family-friendly) image.
Developed by the automaker's own in-house creative team in Southern
California, the campaign was a clever solution to a marketing
conundrum: how to use Volvo's exclusive automotive marketing rights for
"Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest." Obviously, a movie
about adventure on the high seas in the 19th century offered no
opportunities for product placement, says Linda Gangeri, Volvo's
national advertising manager. But all pirate stories involve buried
treasure-- so Volvo decided to bury some "treasure" and create an
interactive campaign where the public could compete to find it.
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