National Car Rental has launched a new TV campaign specifically targeting business travellers, which comprise between 65 and 75% of the company’s business.
The 17-week “Hero” campaign, which launched Monday, introduces viewers to four seasoned “business pros”—Carlos, Robin, Matt and Will—who are experts at everything from packing for travel to passing through airport security and negotiating busy airport concourses. Naturally, they’re similarly adept when it comes to picking a car rental company.
The “Will” spot, for example, shows a man cooly making his way through airport security. “You are a business pro. Executor of efficiency,” says the voiceover supplied by Star Trek: The Next Generation star Patrick Stewart. “You can spot an amateur from miles away, while going shoeless and metal free in seconds.”
After extolling their business smarts, each spot identifies the business pro as a National customer and includes the tag line “Go like a pro.”
Rob Connors, assistant vice-president for National in St. Louis, said the tone and style of the creative is in line with National’s previous efforts, although it does attempt to underscore one of the brand’s key attributes of choice. “We’ve taken that probably further than we ever have,” he said.
Created by St. Louis-based Cannonball Advertising and Promotion, the spots are currently running across CBC News Network, Business News Network, History Channel, National Geographic, BBC Canada and prime time shows on both Global Television and CTV. PHD Canada handled the media buy.
Not long ago, National was doing original creative for the Canadian market with a Canadian agency. But John MacDonald, vice-president of marketing for National, said that while the company is typically sensitive to the cultural nuances of the countries in which it operates, research indicated that the problems addressed in the campaign are universal for business travellers.
“From what we’ve seen, business travellers see themselves as people who manage this process better than most because they’re doing it more frequently,” he said.
MacDonald said the recession produced a “significant retraction” in National’s business travel category of anywhere from 10 to 12%, varying by province or state, but that it has since come back.
The car rental category has been dark in Canada for several years said MacDonald, with internal research indicating that National is the first back in market in any significant way.
The “Hero” campaign coincides with the expansion of National’s “Emerald Aisle” frequent renter program. The program provides access to the Emerald Aisle, an exclusive section of the National lot where members are able to choose from any vehicle as long as they have reserved a mid-sized car.
National introduced the Emerald Aisle at the Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal airports in March 2010, and expanded it to include Toronto’s Pearson International Airport this month.
Characterized as an airport car rental company—catering specifically to travellers—National controls about 18% of that particular segment in Canada, said MacDonald.
Business travel in Canada is growing at a rate of approximately 4.6% per annum according to the Conference Board of Canada’s Canadian Business Travel Outlook.
