Staged in series

 
Autos SFLB has developed unconventional ideas for Volvo to dramatize the four core values. 
In the 1990s, Volvo advertising from Switzerland was still everywhere. And successful. This is exactly what the management of Volvo Switzerland wanted to build on in 2008 with the strong support of the Swiss Volvo dealers. After all, the brand recorded growth of around 20 percent last year. Now, thanks to Spillmann Felser Leo Burnett, Volvo, the premium brand from Sweden, is once again surprising with large-scale advertising "Made in Switzerland". The budget was won in a pitch.
Based on the four core values of environment, safety, origin and design, the agency has developed a campaign that takes the idea of the 1990s with it, but implements it in a visually contemporary and surprising way. The result is spectacularly staged images that focus on the desire for the Swedish premium brand. "The photo shoots were as elaborate as a film shoot," reveals CD Martin Spillmann.
Depending on the orientation of the individual models, the corresponding core value was placed at the center and supported with the headline "Standard with ...". The word "standard", which normally stands for a long list of equipment details for the public, is given a meaning specific to Volvo, which allows the brand to be charged with new, brand-specific arguments. For example, the environmentally friendly flexifuel engines have been illustrated with desperate oil sheikhs who will soon no longer be able to sell gasoline. For Volvo's multi-award-winning design, SFLB has draped the equally award-winning designer Karl Lagerfeld "as standard" around the Volvo as an admirer or, in a second subject, paparazzi. Safety is dramatized with a Little Red Riding Hood who, thanks to Volvo, need not fear the dark forest.
All pictures were taken outside and not in the studio. For scheduling reasons, the cars were photographed in South Africa. This was followed in Switzerland by an elaborate composition of the countless image elements on the computer. 
The result of this long process has been visible in the Swiss press since the beginning of the year. The first four subjects have been running since January. Further subjects will follow in the coming weeks. Care was taken to ensure that the advertisements "always enjoy a premium placement in line with the positioning of the brand," explains consultant Rolf Zimmermann.
The use of a teaser image from the campaign on the front page of Weltwoche was unique in the Swiss media scene. The "weeping oil sheikhs" were the ideal image for the editor of Weltwoche, Roger Köppel, for his cover story "Panic among the oil sheikhs". The subject was then placed on the first double page of the magazine. This placement alone triggered a strong media reaction in Switzerland.
The reactions to the campaign have also been unusually numerous. Dozens of orders for individual motifs have already been received. And the Volvo subjects have also attracted attention beyond the Swiss border. From Vogue.com, the New York Observer and the largest Swedish daily newspaper to countless news platforms and blogs, the campaign has been widely commented on. Whether the Volvo advertisement developed in Switzerland will also be placed in other countries is currently "still being discussed" in Sweden, according to SFLB.
Andreas Panzeri