Chevrolet: Master Building the All-New Chevy Silverado

 

Campaign Summary

Partnering with LEGO and Warner Brothers, Chevrolet's goal was to reach a new audience in a way that could only work on social media. Chevrolet wanted this content to be a social disruption and generate unprecedented impressions and engagements on Chevrolet's owned social media channels, as well as garner incremental reach on LEGO's and Warner Brothers' channels. Since there was PR clout with this integration, a secondary KPI was earned social impressions along with bolstered positive/neutral sentiment.

Strategy

Objective and Context:

Chevrolet has partnered with LEGO and Warner Brothers in previous branded entertainment integrations over the years, but this was the first time Silverado had the spotlight and was the featured vehicle in a highly anticipated film. The company typically used past branded entertainment integrations as a light benchmark, but it set the bar higher for the all-new Silverado.

While Chevrolet was focused on supporting this initiative from a social perspective, it was a true 360-degree digital campaign that included digital media, paid social, email outreach to Chevy owners, and robust site support on Chevy.com.

Target Audience:

The pickup truck is the lifeblood of the automotive industry, as it is the product companies depend on for profitability. With the all-new Chevy Silverado launch underway, Chevrolet's traditional truck buyers were engaged, but since this was a truck for everyone, Chevrolet needed to speak to a larger demographic.

Creative Strategy:

To kick things off, Chevy and LEGO built a full-size Silverado using actual LEGO bricks. The team created a time-lapse video of the build and posted it on Chevrolet, LEGO and The LEGO Movie 2 social channels, timed to coincide with its live debut at the North American International Auto Show.

In alignment with the larger integrated campaign, which spanned across traditional and digital channels, Chevrolet utilized the main characters from the movie to act as spokespeople for the new truck. First, Chevrolet made light of the common myth that no one has their sound on while using social media. Emmet, the lovable star of the movie happily extolled to Wyldstyle, the adventurous co-star, all the benefits of the new Silverado only for her to say that there was a high chance that no one was listening. Then, the team created content around the fear of live-streaming, with separate endings for Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Finally, Chevrolet turned viewers into Master Builders with a one-of-a-kind Instagram Story using stop motion to let the audience build their own LEGO Silverado. Each tap added a few bricks and, once completed, everyone was encouraged to swipe up so they could build the real thing at Chevy.com.

Execution

Overall Campaign Execution:

Chevrolet's social campaign was focused on mobile. Its goal was to create thumb-stopping content and channel-specific executions; to do this, the team used platform data paired with audience usage habits to ensure that this content would resonate. Typical of this effort was the creation of three different videos across Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram that included Wyldstyle calling out specific channels.

Mobile Execution:

It's no surprise that the vast majority of consumers access their favorite social media apps via mobile. This meant that Chevrolet needed to make sure that every piece of content in this partnership was specifically tailored not only for the intended audience but for the intended platform.

So, with a series of original videos, Chevrolet tapped into social media culture and engaged its intended audiences. An example of this coming to life via mobile occurred with a one-of-a-kind Instagram story in which users would tap to start building. This creative utilized stop-motion animation for the company's favorite Chevrolet fans to build their own Silverado. Once completed, everyone was encouraged to swipe up and build the real thing on Chevy.com.

Results (including context, evaluation, and market impact)

As one of the world's largest car brands, Chevrolet is always looking for innovative solutions to marketing core products in a dynamic, authentic, and customer-centric way. This partnership with LEGO/Warner Brothers was successful because it was a cutting-edge campaign that highlighted the all-new Silverado in a light-hearted, engaging manner — and ultimately showcased the Chevrolet brand in a fresh perspective.

The actual LEGO Silverado time-lapse earned 3.1 million social impressions across owned and partner channels without any paid support. Of the nearly 12 million paid Facebook views, 66 percent watched Emmet and Wyldstyle with their sound on. To put that accomplishment into perspective, that is 214 percent above Facebook's average. And finally, Chevrolet's Instagram story saw a 60 percent completion rate, despite having nearly 30 individual taps.


Categories: | Industries: | Objectives: Mobile Social, Mobile Video | Awards: X Gold Winner