The Subaru Impreza can deal with any harrowing driving condition, from potholes to mud holes, according to a new television campaign – the first from Red Urban since taking over the Subaru account from another Omnicom-owned agency, DDB Canada.
DDB resigned the Subaru account late last summer after winning Volkswagen, a cornerstone client in Red Urban’s early days.
For its latest campaign, Subaru wanted to demonstrate to viewers that its compact car is built for everyday life including encounters with bad drivers and pedestrians talking on their phones. Previous Subaru car spots “were more about the driving experience, the performance of the car and not necessarily the every day,” says Christina Yu, executive creative director at Red Urban.
Yu said the campaign is skewed to consumers 25 to 35 — a younger demographic than previous Subaru campaigns – because an opportunity was seen among this group for increased growth in the compact sedan category. “Knowing that Subaru experiences tremendous loyalty rates with their drivers, the earlier people join the Subaru family, the longer they will likely stay with the brand,” she said.
In addition to a 30-second TV spot, which has been condensed into two 15-second pre roll videos, the campaign also includes digital banners, print and radio. Print ads explain the Impreza’s features, such as a collision avoidance system, in greater detail. Radio spots use animated voiceovers to explain how such features as all-wheel drive are better than two-wheel drive.
“The Impreza really is quite different from anything else in the compact car segment,” said Geoff Craig, director of marketing at Subaru, in a statement. “This campaign highlights these differences and the reasons behind them, driving consumer consideration for Impreza in an engaging and human way.”
The campaign runs until mid-June. OMD handled the media buy.
