Volkswagen is using its affable dancing robot, the star of its Super Bowl campaign, to more venues to help drivers feel good about the transition to electric.
The automaker is launching an AR filter with TikTok, which lets users control VW’s robot to show off their own dance moves. It’s also in market with a forced-perspective 3D billboard at Toronto’s Yonge Dundas Square, in which the robot drives into view, then leans out from the screen to give everyone a high five. It’s all built around the “#ElectricFeelsGood” messaging and heroes VW’s electrified reimaging of its VW bus, the ID. Buzz, also featured in top of line work.
Allen Kwong, group CD at Taxi/Type 1, tells strategy that Volkswagen is defying category convention in the EV market, by being more spirited and fun, as opposed to being responsible to the planet, or constantly talking about futuristic tech.
Some people are undoubtedly nervous about switching to electric vehicles, Kwong admits, however Taxi is trying to connect with those “waiting things out,” by positioning EVs as super fun, fast, with tight handling.
According to Kwong, Taxi/Type 1 gave itself a mandate to create something fun and engaging, and worked directly with TikTok to make a filter which was “super responsive. You can make the smallest movements, and it tracks it,” he says.
“This is our first time working on the TikTok platform for the brand,” Kwong says, adding that TikTok is a perfect experiential play to amplify the “feel good” messaging. Especially since there aren’t enough EVs on the road yet for people to truly get a sense of how fun they are.
The experiential component builds on the brand’s Super Bowl spot, which featured a dancing robot, but also the iconic earworm, “Mr. Roboto,” by Styx (see, below) and which garnered a lot of buzz. That campaign was inspired by a classic VW spot, using the same song, which helped inspire Taxi through the ideation process. “It all clicked for us,” Kwong says.
Touché handled the buy on social and OOH.
Earlier this summer, VW showed up at Toronto’s Collision tech conference, again showcasing the lighthearted side of EV vehicles. It setup a “grass station,” a petrol station built from live plants, and complete with a touch screen generative AI for people to imagine their own EVs of the future, like a flying pizza delivery car.
Last summer, Volkswagen pumped up the humor in the equation, with an EV owner visiting a dilapidated gas station and guiltily purchasing merch from inside.
