70 Guardians of Winter
Skoda
Issue 35 | June 2015
Agency
Proximity Barcelona
Creative Team
?Chief Creative Officer Eva Santos Creative Director Alba Vence Art Directors Sonia Ferna´ndez Laia Grassi Copywriter Carmela Serantes
Production Team
Producers Merce` Fernandez Diana Asenjo Productora Good Morning Realizadora Ingride Santos
Other Credits
Account Team Nora Guardiola Carolina Serena Aida Mateo Social Media Team Antonio Guerrero Maria Quintairos
Date
To March 2015
Background
Eighty years ago, 1,470 people lived in Valdelinares, the highest town in Spain. That had reduced to just 70. Because this was a town that experienced snow and ice in the cold months of the year, they were called the 70 guardians of winter.
However, the town had no pharmacy and no supermarket and the closest health clinic was 20km away. The school was about to close because there weren't enough children.
The fact was, across Spain, rural depopulation had left 3,000 towns abandoned. At those rates, a hundred small towns each year would die.
Skoda, a brand not well known in Spain, believed it could do something to help reverse this trend.
In launching the new Skoda Scout 4x4, rather than talk about its all- terrain capabilities, the brand decided to demonstrate them by going to the rescue of Valdelinares.
Idea
The problem was Valdelinares needed a family with children to move into the town to live. If not, the school would close and the remaining families with children would be forced to leave. It would become a ghost town.
Skoda set about recruiting a family to bring life back to the place.
A TV commercial starring the residents of Valdelinares was created, explaining the problem and offering a family a job there.
A documentary film was made and hosted on a website about the town.
Skoda dealerships became information centres, where people could find out more about Valdelinares.
600 families applied and one family was chosen and given a Skoda Scout, a car which did not find life at high altitude at all difficult.
Results
More than 600 families applied to live in Valdelinares. There was a 25% increase in brand recognition and a 21% increase in Skoda sales. Online searches for Valdelinares increased by 83%.
Two other towns used the same idea to attract families.
Our Thoughts
Forbes magazine recently asked, ‘How well does branded content work for brands to be able to forge a relationship with an audience?’, looking to an IPG Media Lab study for this answer: People who engage with branded content ‘were 28% more likely to have a favourable view of the brand.’
Branded content like this campaign for Skoda works even if quantifying success is still hard for marketers or for their agencies to do.
But branded content doesn’t work in isolation. One of the difficulties for Directory in showcasing a campaign like this is if we give the impression Skoda did not need traditional advertising support as well.
Of course they did. What this idea would have done is create awareness so that the traditional display advertising would suddenly have become more noticeable and more meaningful.