Peugeot has been daring in its latest campaign, aimed at fleet management sales professionals from leasing companies and those who use company cars. It invited 300 people to three ‘VIP’ cinema events, where instead of the usual pre-film commercials the audience was treated to an ad with a difference.
Action outside of the box
The advert features ‘discerning’ fleet customer Mr Obnoxious, who is in his office on the phone to his fleet management contact. Little do the guests know that this contact is actually sitting in the audience, dividing the action between the screen and auditorium.Mr Obnoxious wants a stylish car with room to transport the musical instruments of his hobby band. The fleet management employee, sitting in the audience, explains how the Peugeot 3008 meets his requirements. This interaction was designed to generate a buzz and excitement and was filmed in order to be sent to prospects who could not attend.
Rachel Baars, account director at CMW, the agency responsible for the campaign, said that this was the first time Peugeot had invited fleet management professionals to an event. The objective was to create a relaxed environment and host an evening of entertainment. Previous activity has centred around trade press or customer communication.
VIPs only
Although this was not a completely new audience for Peugeot, it targeted them in a new way. Due to the change in tactic from previous campaigns, Peugeot was extremely specific with its invites, only asking sales professionals from the top three companies in the fleet management sector: IBM, PWC and Hitachi.
Baars explains the selections. “These were the companies we felt had the greatest opportunity to buy: Hitachi is a large leasing company and the other two have hundreds of people who could potentially use the new Peugeot as their company car.” Melanie Kent, manager of fleet and business communications marketing at Peugeot, adds, “This was a new concept and an initial small number of events was undertaken.”
Kent also explains that the launch was not about making deals. Its key objective was to successfully launch the car to the fleet market. She says, “The market is flooded with new model launches, therefore it was about doing something which would be memorable.”
Invitations
Peugeot approached the fleet managers with a phone call, explaining the event, then followed up with an email. It was the responsibility of the fleet managers to invite their employees. Kent explains the attendees were, “staff who were ‘users-choosers’ or drove company cars.”
A poster was distributed amongst the companies for internal use and a microsite set up. The site’s features included trailers of the films and information about the Peugeot 3008. Customers were directed to the site via email.
The events were held at the beginning of December in Portsmouth, Cambridge and Newbury as these locations are close to the offices of those invited. The films chosen were 2012, Harry Brown and Men who Stare at Goats. Baars explains these were simply the films available at the time.
The specially commissioned advert was shown prior to the film, and the cinema was decked out with Peugeot branded collateral and promotional merchandise for attendees to take away with them. Kent plans to continue marketing the Peugeot 3008 in the coming year.
Barrs adds that the success of this launch has inspired the company to do more of a similar kind. Peugeot has an event planned in the early part of the year although Kent could not say what it will involve. “We are really happy with how it went and would only change a few minor internal details.”
