Can you do a split on top of a fast-moving vehicle on an empty highway?! This man could.
Guerrilla Marketing! In other words, these are marketing campaigns used by different businesses to generate buzz, create a memorable brand recall, and spark interaction with a target market. Keep reading to learn how this Swedish truck company and famous action star teamed up to create an impressive out-of-the box campaign!
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Can you do a split on top of a fast-moving vehicle on an empty highway?! This man could. On the road when your car is in the middle of two giant trucks… … what do you usually do? You’d do your best to get out of that zone, right? It’s pretty intimidating for a driver to be in that position. But what if you’re not in a car? What if you’re hanging in between two moving trucks cruising on a highway? Scary! Not for this man though. This famous action star confidently did a center SPLIT in between two trucks. NOT JUST THAT! Those trucks were moving in REVERSE. What brand is the mastermind of this daring and crazy stunt? VOLVO TRUCKS Volvo Trucks is a global manufacturing company headquartered in Gothenburg, Sweden. This company is…
Who is the famous action star that performed the stunt? JEAN-CLAUDE VAN DAMME
NO CAMERA TRICKS. In November 2013, Volvo released an advertising campaign called, “The Epic Split.”
In this out of the box guerrilla marketing campaign, Jean-Claude Van Damme successfully performs a center split between two Volvo trucks that are moving in reverse down a closed off highway! As part of the video, his voice in the background said: “I’ve had my ups and downs. My fair share of bumpy roads and heavy winds. That’s what made me what I am today. Now, I stand here before you. What you see is a body crafted to perfection. A pair of legs engineered to defy the laws of physics. And a mindset to master the most epic of splits.” – Jean-Claude Van Damme He did the stunt with so much confidence and finesse that it looked like the whole video was edited! It didn’t even look like he had an ounce of fear in his body. AMAZING. This campaign was meant to demonstrate the precision and directional stability of the Volvo Dynamic Steering—the world’s first technology that made the Volvo FM easier to drive. Their target market is truck drivers and construction businesses, but due to the unique concept of this campaign, the video attracted a bigger market and became viral around the world. “The Epic Split” campaign received a lot of awards and recognitions.
… and many more! Let’s not forget the ad agency that worked with Volvo Trucks to create this successful campaign. Volvo Trucks partnered with the Forsman & Bodenfors Creative Agency. Both parties really wanted to create a buzz in the online community. And they did! Their creative concept on how they can showcase the brand’s innovation and development for their new products is exemplary. “Truck buyers are surrounded by a lot of influencers, and the largest group is truck drivers. And you can’t reach truck drivers with traditional advertising. We needed to go broad, and we didn’t have a media budget, so we decided viral was the only way to go.” – Engstrom of Forsman & Bodenfors Pretty effective, right? Through creative and viral campaigns, you can help boost the credibility and exposure of your brand to your chosen target market (or even to groups beyond that). It all depends on the uniqueness of your campaign. Try out of the box ideas to captivate your target audience’s attention. With the right mix of strategy and creativity, you can create a campaign that can effectively promote your brand and attract a lot of people too! Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerilla Marketing! SPOONS. An everyday need for many! How did this campaign attain immense brand recall? See it on next week’s Gorillas of the Guerilla Marketing! |
