Last but not least: Vemod
Chinese owners or not, Volvo is showing—in the longest TV commercial in the country's history—that the brand is more Swedish than ever.
The "Volvo Car Corporation" was sold to Ford in 1999. Ford, in turn, sold Volvo's passenger car production to the Chinese automaker Geely in 2010. Not an easy development for a brand that, like Ikea, Abba and Björn Borg, has always been one of the most important landmarks of the Scandinavian country. Nevertheless: Volvo remains Sweden. Volvo is Sweden. That's what a comprehensive campaign called "Made by Sweden" is currently making residents aware of.
The latest installment: a TV spot that lasts a whopping four minutes - and aired on Swedish TV last weekend. The longest commercial in Swedish TV history. And probably also one of the longest ever broadcast on regular TV under regular conditions.
The agency Forsman & Bodenfors with director Gustav Johansson and his production company New Land want to evoke a feeling called "Vemod" in the audience. The Swedish audience, of course. Because for Vemod - as for countless Swedish words - there is no exact translation into other languages. Google Translate makes it a bit too simple with "sadness". Rather, it refers to a feeling of melancholy that apparently accompanies the Swedes through the gloomy but beautiful winter months at the beginning of the year - and which inspires them to particular creativity. Be it in art, in music - or in car construction.
The result is a spot that shows the gloomy beauty of Sweden in January - underpinned by the music of singer-songwriter Amanda Bergman. A spot that is explicitly meant to appeal to Swedes - we still like to watch. (hae)
