2024 Winner
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BronzeBest Use of Local Media
BronzeBest Cultural Insights
Volkswagen
"Sans Emission"
Touché!
"Sans Emission"
Touché!
With more automotive brands advertising their respective electric vehicles in Quebec (Canada’s largest EV market by volume), standing apart from the increasing category noise has become more difficult. Volkswagen is a smaller brand in Canada, without the marketing budgets to compete on
share-of-voice alone.
Rather than focusing on a media plan that relied on being loud in commonplace media channels, the agency set out to create their own unique media moment that would appeal to Quebec’s love of locally produced television and homegrown stars.
The main objective of the campaign was to build awareness of Volkswagen’s first all-electric vehicle in Canada – the ID.4. Key performance indicators were familiarity, consideration, purchase intent,
and sales.
In Quebec, many TV networks stop broadcasting during the late hours of the night. One of these networks, popular entertainment channel Noovo, has never broadcast anything between the hours of 2 am and 6 am in its history.
Locals in Quebec call this off airtime “Sans Émission”, which translates to “No broadcast signal”. But “Sans Émission” also has a second meaning: “No gas emissions”, in reference to electric Vehicles.
Playing with the double meaning of “Sans Émission”, the brand partnered with Noovo to turn their unused airtime into a first of its kind media stunt: a 4-hour-long comedy special starring comedian Pier-Luc Funk and a charging Volkswagen EV.
The agency exploited channel Noovo’s unused 2 am to 6 am time slot on September 16th to create a new media space. The resulting 4-hour-long broadcast was equal parts entertainment for a late-night TV audience and information for EV intenders. It was also Canada’s first 4-hour-long
commercial/TV show.
To ensure maximum viewership, a comprehensive media plan was executed before and after the show’s airing. The media plan and campaign messaging focused on comedian Pier-Luc Funk – making it look like a major Quebec celebrity was launching his latest TV show. Campaign assets counted down to the premiere date and highlighted the unusual overnight time block to build excitement and FOMO (fear of missing out).
Every year, at the start of the fall TV season, television networks launch marketing campaigns to promote the shows they believe will become the biggest hits. Quebec audiences look for these campaigns to discover hot new shows. Quebec networks all follow a similar launch playbook for these campaigns. So, they launched Volkswagen’s “Sans Émission” the exact same way.
The campaign included billboards counting down to the premiere on September 16th, 15-second TV promotions aired in rotation with other commercials promoting new shows, a listing for “Sans Émission” in the TV guide (TV and online), a social media teaser posts from Noovo, Volkswagen, Pier-Luc Funk, and entertainment pundit and a radio show PR tour for Pier-Luc to promote “Sans Émission”.
These were strategically placed in Montreal’s arts and entertainment district near other billboards promoting TV shows.
After the premiere, it was cut into bite-sized streaming episodes for those who missed the initial broadcast. Viewers could click out directly to Volkswagen’s website to learn more about the ID.4.
The innovation of this campaign lies in the creation of a new advertising format, tailor-made for Volkswagen and broadcast during the late-night hours. This new program-like broadcast consisted of 4 hours of advertising content for Volkswagen, showcasing the product and our spokesperson in a playful and entertaining manner.
The agency treated this new advertising format like a real television program by replicating the launch codes of a TV show: self-promotional spots, province-wide OOH, integration into programming schedules, radio appearances, and social media posts.
The overnight broadcast saw over 63,000 people tune in between 2 am and 6 am. Based on total viewers, this put “Sans Émission” in the top 6 most-watched live shows on Noovo. It also generated over 2,000,000 earned media impressions in local Quebec media.
This exposure translated into significant increases across Volkswagen’s marketing funnel. The campaign garnered 15% more awareness of Volkswagen as an EV brand, 40% more familiarity of the all-electric, 54% more consideration (94% would now consider buying an ID.4) and
100% purchase intent.
The campaign delivered strong business results with more than 64% in ID.4 web-order-form engagements following the live broadcast and 49% growth in Volkswagen’s share of the Quebec
EV market.
share-of-voice alone.
Rather than focusing on a media plan that relied on being loud in commonplace media channels, the agency set out to create their own unique media moment that would appeal to Quebec’s love of locally produced television and homegrown stars.
The main objective of the campaign was to build awareness of Volkswagen’s first all-electric vehicle in Canada – the ID.4. Key performance indicators were familiarity, consideration, purchase intent,
and sales.
In Quebec, many TV networks stop broadcasting during the late hours of the night. One of these networks, popular entertainment channel Noovo, has never broadcast anything between the hours of 2 am and 6 am in its history.
Locals in Quebec call this off airtime “Sans Émission”, which translates to “No broadcast signal”. But “Sans Émission” also has a second meaning: “No gas emissions”, in reference to electric Vehicles.
Playing with the double meaning of “Sans Émission”, the brand partnered with Noovo to turn their unused airtime into a first of its kind media stunt: a 4-hour-long comedy special starring comedian Pier-Luc Funk and a charging Volkswagen EV.
The agency exploited channel Noovo’s unused 2 am to 6 am time slot on September 16th to create a new media space. The resulting 4-hour-long broadcast was equal parts entertainment for a late-night TV audience and information for EV intenders. It was also Canada’s first 4-hour-long
commercial/TV show.
To ensure maximum viewership, a comprehensive media plan was executed before and after the show’s airing. The media plan and campaign messaging focused on comedian Pier-Luc Funk – making it look like a major Quebec celebrity was launching his latest TV show. Campaign assets counted down to the premiere date and highlighted the unusual overnight time block to build excitement and FOMO (fear of missing out).
Every year, at the start of the fall TV season, television networks launch marketing campaigns to promote the shows they believe will become the biggest hits. Quebec audiences look for these campaigns to discover hot new shows. Quebec networks all follow a similar launch playbook for these campaigns. So, they launched Volkswagen’s “Sans Émission” the exact same way.
The campaign included billboards counting down to the premiere on September 16th, 15-second TV promotions aired in rotation with other commercials promoting new shows, a listing for “Sans Émission” in the TV guide (TV and online), a social media teaser posts from Noovo, Volkswagen, Pier-Luc Funk, and entertainment pundit and a radio show PR tour for Pier-Luc to promote “Sans Émission”.
These were strategically placed in Montreal’s arts and entertainment district near other billboards promoting TV shows.
After the premiere, it was cut into bite-sized streaming episodes for those who missed the initial broadcast. Viewers could click out directly to Volkswagen’s website to learn more about the ID.4.
The innovation of this campaign lies in the creation of a new advertising format, tailor-made for Volkswagen and broadcast during the late-night hours. This new program-like broadcast consisted of 4 hours of advertising content for Volkswagen, showcasing the product and our spokesperson in a playful and entertaining manner.
The agency treated this new advertising format like a real television program by replicating the launch codes of a TV show: self-promotional spots, province-wide OOH, integration into programming schedules, radio appearances, and social media posts.
The overnight broadcast saw over 63,000 people tune in between 2 am and 6 am. Based on total viewers, this put “Sans Émission” in the top 6 most-watched live shows on Noovo. It also generated over 2,000,000 earned media impressions in local Quebec media.
This exposure translated into significant increases across Volkswagen’s marketing funnel. The campaign garnered 15% more awareness of Volkswagen as an EV brand, 40% more familiarity of the all-electric, 54% more consideration (94% would now consider buying an ID.4) and
100% purchase intent.
The campaign delivered strong business results with more than 64% in ID.4 web-order-form engagements following the live broadcast and 49% growth in Volkswagen’s share of the Quebec
EV market.
Credits
Touché!Volkswagen Canada
VML Canada