BRONZE WINNER: Citroën

Client: Citroën Brazil
Entrant Company: Mediacontacts, Brazil
Entry Category: A local brand or service in a local market with innovation solutions worthy of international adaptation or of world class standards
Names to be credited with submission:
Mariana Oliveira, Elaine Aguiar and Luciana Iodice of Mediacontacts, Brazil

Marketing Situation: When the economic crisis hit Brazil, the government launched an incentive campaign that increased credit access and decreased taxes, particularly for 1.000 cylinders, also known as popular cars, or 1.0. The affect on cars prices was immediate — sales got back on track.
However, the Hatchback M1 category growth in the first 8 months of the year totalized 1.5%, lower than the industry average. Within the category there are 19 players. In this environment, Citroën’s C4 Hatch was to be launched.

Insights: According to New Car Buyer research, technology, differentiated style and innovation were the most highly valued attributes by consumers—regardless which car brand they purchased.
Of the consumers that bought Citroën, 84% declared that test-drives had a high influence on their purchase. In addition, 83% of consumers underscored that the “pleasure of driving” was a key attribute—and one that was higher than for Citroën than any other brand.
As a result, the objective was to encourage people to experience the product.

Digital Media Strategy: The goal, with a limited budget, was to take the C4 Hatchback to the people and persuade them to know the product better. Given the intense segment competitiveness, Citroën had to stand out in an impactful way. A 3-D robot of the C4 Hatch was created as the main character of the campaign. The robot dances in the parking lot and transforms into a car, yet a user can customize the C4 Hatch robot with a photo or pre-selected dances. After each robotic dance, the user may send the performance video to friends, who were also invited to fill out a test-drive booking form.

Broad-ranging interactivity was used to get the product closer to its consumer and generate interest in visiting the dealership. 2D codes in magazines allowed interaction with product information and facilitated test drive bookings through mobile links. Social media strategies were employed, and blogs and consumer generated content media were monitored for comments.

Innovation and interactivity are key in reaching the Brazilian market. This campaign also insured that the consumer remained the core focus of the communication, regardless of media.

Worldwide Best Practices: The combination of a great car, entertainment, customization, and the convenience of a test drive booking through dealership localization were key elements for the success of the campaign. The Citroën C4 Hatch’s attributes were presented in a different way; through entertainment, the consumer became closer to the brand. In Brazil, this definitely set the stage for making a car an appealing buying option.

Results: The campaign results were outstanding. In only 4 months after its launch, C4 was amongst the top 5 models on its category (represented by 19 players), with a market share of over 10%.

Some additional results that helped on the campaign objective were:

• On social media, more than 200 thousand people were impacted, generating comments on the campaign and product trial.

• The site received over 99 thousand unique visitors within the first 2 months of the launch, and the interaction for the hotsite robot customization was 55%, of which 25% accessed the product page.