Events for automobile brands have always been an iconic category in the event industry. Firstly, they always have a request for creativity, secondly, really strong and different brands that allow you to create a concept not in a vacuum, thirdly, a request for technology and all the “very best”. These events were flagship events for the market, set trends in the organization and were discussed for a long time afterwards (I still remember my feelings when I saw the presentation with an hourglass on Red Square).
The pandemic made its own adjustments - most events were transferred online, and one of the key tasks for those events that took place offline was the emphasis on the safety of guests.
In addition, the very approaches to how consumers perceive cars have changed, which is also reflected in the way brands communicate – here are the changes we have noticed in this segment recently:
1) Transformation of the segment in the eyes of the consumer. The sharing economy and the “uberization” of travel reduce the value of the main function of cars - moving people and things, at least in cities. Brands are looking for new territories to bring their stories to life. The challenge and risk is not to end up in the “old luxury” category. In any case, now the car is only part of the urban transportation ecosystem.
We note an important aspect - the car is increasingly being transformed into a gadget, which is subject to completely different requirements. The size, quality and shape of the screen, technologies that are not directly related to the main function of movement - these are the nuances that modern buyers are increasingly paying attention to.
Challenge: New event formats that seamlessly combine offline and online parts.
2) Consumers (especially the younger generation) are increasingly evaluating the non-consumer properties of a product when purchasing. Namely: environmental impact, benefit to society and having a “meaning” that goes beyond “we deliver value for shareholders.”
For better or worse, pleasure for the sake of pleasure or luxury for the sake of luxury is not in trend now, and we need to look for new meanings and values. “Freedom,” which helped out before, is also unlikely to work, given point one and the new transport ecosystem in cities.
Challenge: search for new values and meanings. For example, brands entering other territories is modern digital art.
Despite the pandemic, we held more than ten events for automotive brands in 2021; I’ll tell you more about four of them.
Audi. quattro therapy
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Last year, we helped the brand make an online presentation of the new all-electric Audi E-tron in the format of an evening show with automotive, IT and lifestyle bloggers (demonstrating the car in new qualities - as a super advanced accessory and gadget).
In this case, we continued the cycle and made the first event, the filming of which turned into a YouTube show. The concept is “quattro therapy”: if you feel bored during the short winter days, you just need a car with quattro drive to cheer you up. Challenge yourself to do something you've never done before."
Star guests Alla Mikheeva and Sergey Burunov, under the strict guidance of Ivan Urgant, performed tasks related to leaving the zone of routine: the first drift or the first slalom on a winter slope in a car.
We are grateful to the client for his willingness to go beyond traditional formats - after all, the “Audi e-tron evening show” became one of the first automotive talk shows from the brand on YouTube.
Audi. Cosmoscow
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This is not the first year that Audi has been a partner of the international contemporary art fair.
According to the concept, we created a minimalistic and futuristic stand at Cosmoscow, which combines the progress of automotive manufacturing and contemporary art. Guests of the stand could create their own picture of the future, in which their silhouette serves as the basis for digital art content developed together with a video artist.
When a guest entered the installation area, it seemed to come to life, reading his movements.
As soon as you start your movement, you notice progress in yourself and around you.
Kia. Brand presentation
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This year we held a super-scale event to launch the transformation of the Kia brand in Russia - the event marked a bold step towards a new philosophy and global goal - gaining a position as a leader in the future mobility industry.
The goal of the event was not just to show the new brand logo, but also to talk about the new philosophy of the brand. The “Movement Inspires” philosophy includes a new visual language, a new concept for the brand and its place in society, new sources of inspiration and models. And - the icing on the cake - a preview of the new KIA electric car.
This is a very bold step on the part of the brand to talk about its values and principles in building its future. But as I said at the beginning, many studies confirm that this is what consumers are looking for now - depth.
Kia. Test drive the new Kia Carnival
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Test drives were affected by the pandemic a little less than other events - there are not many participants, it is easier to organize everything safely.
It turned out fortunately that before the pandemic, the Krasnodar region took a giant step in terms of infrastructure - wineries, hotels and roads. This, perhaps, saved car brands, since most foreign test drives were cancelled.
As part of the project, we tried to put participants in different positions in accordance with different consumer segments: transfer from the airport in a comfortable seat in the cabin with a driver, a lot of family accessories in order to evaluate the transformation of the cabin, and, of course, the driver’s sections of the route. Thus, to give participants a new experience of owning a car, and not just to demonstrate the functionality of the product.
As a summary
We hope that clients will continue to be ready to test new formats in the new season - after all, it seems to us that presentation formats with large screens and low voice-over “Meet the new ...” have long required updating - the pandemic has only helped to accelerate progress and rethink many approaches.
