Saab ad competition

The poll for the Saab (unofficial) ad competition has now closed and we have our three winners. They’ll be the recipients of a mix of cash and gift vouchers from both Saabs United and the following generous sponsors: New Salem Saab, International Saab, ATS, transport services, SoonSaab, State of Nine, Maptun, Elkparts, Saab USA Parts, The Fudge A’fare and a couple of generous private donors.

Click here to view the finalists.

Click here to view nearly 500 entries received for this competition!

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On to the winners, then……

In third place with 142 votes is Regular 9-5 getting you down? You need ours., which was sent in by Talladegan.

This ad seemed to speak to a lot of people, tapping in to the shared theme of needing to escape the regular 9 to 5 routine and the Saab 9-5 being the perfect alternative choice for doing so.

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In second place with a very decent 254 votes is People who test drive a Saab usually by one, which was one of a very strong range of ads submitted by Jorrit.

It’s a sentiment that many Saab fans will resonate with, particularly if they’re currently driving something that isn’t a Saab. I imagine they’d see the 900 in that ad and think about the old days, right before calling their local dealer to see what’s in stock.

This is arguably the most ‘print-ready’ of the ads, gelling seamlessly with Saab’s brand language straight out of the box. For the record, my personal vote went to Jorrit’s other finalist entry, Great Scandinavian design….

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Drumroll………………

And your winner, with a 25% slice of the pie and 344 public votes (and the leader right from the beginning, to be honest) is Four seasons, Four wheels, Four elements, Four letters, which was submitted by ViktorH.

And the text….

It’s a little controversial, isn’t it. A car ad without a car in it.

And yet I knew this ad could do well from the first moment I saw it because it draws you in to look at the symbols and perform just the right amount of mental gymnastics in order to get the massage.

It’s an impressive result for an impressive ad. Congratulations, ViktorH.

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BONUS – THE SU ENCOURAGEMENT AWARD

We had one particular entrant in the competition who was tenacious in terms of both the regularity of his submissions and the manner in which he applied himself to listening to people’s thoughts and improving his ads accordingly.

Jake is just 13 years old yet he managed to submit an impressive quantity of work. Several of his ads received votes from the judges but unfortunately for Jake, none received the required second vote needed to get into the finals.

This isn’t a sympathy award. We had other 13 year old entrants, too. This is a reward for a month’s hard work for a young man with the will to work and the maturity to improve his work as things progressed. I admired his dedication to the task. At an age where other kids are busy texting their friends about texting their friends, Jake wanted to improve his work and earn himself some cash.

I can’t do much about the cash, but I’ll be sending Jake my last remaining sealed copy of the Saab Sonett #4 book, which I believe is now quite unavailable given that it was a limited edition released around 5 years ago. It’s a fantastic read about an element of Saab’s heritage that we’d all love to see return.

FINAL CHANCE FOR VOTING, WHICH CLOSES AT 7PM AUSSIE DST TODAY.

IF YOU HAVEN’T VOTED YET, NOW’S THE TIME. AND PLEASE PASS THE WORD ALONG TO GET AS MANY PEOPLE VOTING AS POSSIBLE.

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It’s time to vote for the winners of the Saab (unofficial) ad competition. If you haven’t read it yet, please check out the background information on the selection of these finalists. If you have read it, then it’s time to review the finalists and select your winner.

You get one vote and one vote only, so make your selection carefully and vote for your favourite. Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place.

Here are your finalists. Click to enlarge. The poll is below.

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#1 – Beauty comes from the inside. Why settle for that? – The only series selected. View at Flickr.

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#2 – With great power comes great responsibility – showing Saab’s new low-emissions TTiD Saab 9-3 range. View at Flickr.

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#3 – The relentless pursuit of…. common sense – part of a series cleverly using slogans from other companies to highlight Saab strengths. View at Flickr.

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#4 – Regular 9-5 getting you down? You need ours – a clever play on words and a good story as well. View at Flickr.

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#5 – People who drive a Saab usually buy one…. and a second… and a third – how many times have we said this? And the pictures bring it to life. View at Flickr.

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#6 – The latest addition to great Scandinavian design – ties in to the idea of Saab being Scandinavian as a brand emphasis. View at Flickr.

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#7 – Unusual – one of a group of 7, all of which were judged individually and all of which were quite clever. View at Flickr.

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#8 – Less = Moore – Execution needs tidying up, but the judges liked the story, which had a Saab Vs likeness. View at Flickr.

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#9 – Logic will get you from A to B – Simple, clean with an engaging line of thought. View at Flickr.

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#10 – Love at first sight isn’t everything – a good educational ad stating some facts about the product. View at Flickr.

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#11 – It’s all in the details – again, representing a series of similar ads that stood well on their own. View at Flickr.

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#12 – Omnipresent – representing a series of 4 ads that stood well on their own. View at Flickr.

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#13 – Four seasons, Four wheels, Four elements, Four letters – The only one without a true car image but a great layout and narrative. Interestingly, the judges preferred this earlier layout to an updated one. View at Flickr.

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The poll

You have your finalists. The poll will remain for two days. Please cast your vote and pass this link on to all of your Saab friends so they can place a vote as well.

[poll id=”7″]

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