We did a big chunk of this a few months ago with the (Unofficial) Saab Ad Competition.
A press release from SCNA:
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ROYAL OAK, Mich., Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — “The Story of Saab,” a multi-media, multi-faceted national advertising campaign, which will include online ads written by Saab fans, kicked off yesterday.
According to Nicole Jankowski, Saab Cars North America’s Marketing Communications Manager, “The idea behind the campaign is independent thinking, but, most importantly, it will let everyone know that Saab is back, here to stay and that we never went away – what we stand for and who we compete against.”
The Swedish manufacturer virtually disappeared in the United States market less than a year ago, as its parent company at the time tried to sell it. Led by its entrepreneur CEO, Victor Muller, Saab was purchased by Spyker Cars N.V. nearly a year ago – Saab is now once again regaining its place as an independent and viable automaker in the minds of potential consumers.
“Saab has always been unique, offering products which might not be for everyone, but are innovative and speak to its incredibly loyal, devoted owner and fan base,” Jankowski said.
Print ads from the campaign debut this week in The Wall Street Journal, and will be followed by the first television flight starting on January 31. The campaign has a brand story, a product story and retail elements.
“It’s a true, comprehensive re-launch of the brand, the cars and the company,” Jankowski said. “And it’s a long-term, brand building platform, with elements that will continue to evolve in the coming months.”
Online/social-media will be an important part of this campaign. Saab will preview the television commercial January 30th on its Facebook page. In addition, Facebook followers will be asked to write ads for the company, one or more of which will be used in future online advertising.
“The Story of Saab” was created by McCann Worldgroup Detroit’s Team Saab for the U.S. market. Team Saab also has the responsibility of creating the global launch campaign for the company’s next product, the 9-4X.
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About Team Saab
Team Saab is a unit of McCann Worldgroup dedicated to marketing Saab Cars North America. McCann Worldgroup delivers marketing solutions that transform brands and grow businesses. The company is comprised of a roster of best-in-class agencies, including McCann Erickson Worldwide (the world’s largest advertising agency network); MRM Worldwide (digital marketing/relationship management); Momentum Worldwide (event marketing/promotion); McCann Healthcare Worldwide (professional/dtc communications); WGEXP (global production); UM (media management); Weber Shandwick (public relations) and FutureBrand (consulting/design).
About time!
Judging for the first ads, all sounds as well as the Classic 900 exhaust to me!
Positive moves my friends…. this is going to be a great year!
Newest ad is on Saab Cars’ Facebook page. I’m loving the aggressiveness and no-nonsense nature of this campaign.
“A cold day in hell is an average day in Sweden”
Fanatastic stuff with great summary of Saab’s highpoints.
Wait, I’m confuzzled:
Will SCNA be using somr of our ads?
If so, will we know if ours will be selected, or how will that work?
Nope, they’re recreating the wheel and doing it all again via Facebook so you’ll need to submit some work to the Facebook campaign once it kicks off.
Get amongst it, Jake!
Ah!
Thanks for the prompt reply, Swade!
I’ll hop to it as soon as I can!
-Jake
Can’t you just zip all the SU ad entries and dump it on their doorstep?
Btw, do you have any control over the ads that pop up on the SU web site? There are some political tinted ones that I’d rather not see here.
I can block some, but there’s so many on the screening list that I can’t be bothered. If it’s a party that you don’t like, you can always waste their money by positioning your mouse over the offending graphic and depressing the appropriate button 🙂
…which by the way has the positive side-effect of more or less directly financing your favorite enthusiast website, GerritN. 😉
I love the new Saab. They’re keeping their eyes wide open to what happens around them and they … well… move their minds. “I like”
You already do understand the community feeling.
A great future lies ahead of you 😉
The social media stuff (facebook) I saw during our web conference was really cool and original. Saab’s done a great job with this round of advertising.
AJ Murphy
Just Saab
Good to hear, AJ. I look forward to seeing it.
I hope the advertising company offers to pay people for their ideas/ad designs if chosen from SpaceBook! That is not good business if they use the ads without paying for them, even if they get the permission from the originator. After they (the advertising company) are being paid to promote the brand. Nothing gets my goat more than unpaid spec work.
sab
Agreed 100%, Steve.
Is McCann Worldgroup really taking credit for “creating” this idea?!?! This is BS I really can’t stand. Hope Saab didn’t pay a whole lot for this kind of brilliant out of the box thinking. Just look what they “brain stormed” prior to our ad competition.
They should have said all started with fans creating ads at SU and now they will take it to the next level (€5.000 to the winner for example). That would have been an excellent message and advertising in itself! Guess their too d**b or greedy to do that. Sorry.