Alfa Romeo had a challenging year ahead. Brand share of voice was low and their competitors were ploughing ever increasing budgets into marketing. Saliency was also low with no new launches planned. But insight revealed Alfa buyers believed it was more than just a car, it was an emotional purchase built around spirit. We needed to tap into Alfa’s distinctive, Italian sense of the thrill of the drive. Ultimately, the brief was to connect with customers and excite them on a deeper level to stir enthusiasm and devotion with the end goal of driving purchase consideration (pun intended!)
Alfa Romeo: Passion for Life
The Big Idea
We knew we were developing a diverse range of new commissions including Guy Martin’s Speed, The Island (with Bear Grylls), and Dawn O’Porter’s This Old Thing. On the surface they are all very different, but we realised the presenters’ passion for their subject was a theme throughout - the perfect embodiment of Alfa’s objectives. The wheels were turning. Bringing these shows together, and working collaboratively with the team at Maxus we created a unique sponsorship strand: “Passion for Life on 4” and pitched to Alfa to be its first ever sponsor.
But we needed to go further. For maximum impact, we needed a full partnership that would live beyond the broadcast of these shows. We needed to commission tailor-made content to complement the sponsorship and bring the audience a richer experience. Alfa committed completely - the partnership represented their entire broadcast budget in 2014.
Making it Happen
Guy Martin was a new face for Channel 4 but we were confident he was a brilliant ambassador who perfectly encapsulated the brand values of Alfa Romeo: authentic; approachable; sophisticated. We were also developing Shorts, a new digital channel specialising in bite sized content. Alfa trusted our instincts and over 3 months we set about developing a short form series with Guy.
We scripted treatments that met Alfa’s brand objectives but suited Guy’s personality in order to create a perfect harmony. With close collaboration between North One, Maxus & Channel 4, coupled with tenacity and sheer willpower, we delivered (to time!) Guy Martin’s Passion for Life: a captivating series exploring his passions including TT racing, being a mechanic, and his prized possession, a Merlin engine lovingly restored from a Lancaster bomber. His enthusiasm was infectious, even the title sequence had pace and conviction blending Alfa’s heritage with contemporary Guy. Each episode connected the two through a succinct pay-off e.g. “Guy Martin: As passionate about racing as we are”. The series was ready, now we needed people to see it.
The Results
The on air sponsorship reached over 18.5m ABC1 adults and the bravery to associate with a brand new series within a brand new strand was rewarded with ratings success, leading to second season commissions in 2015 and a successful renewal of the partnership.
“Guy Martin’s Passion for Life” was the most successful original format on the Shorts platform in 2014, with over 600,000 views and a staggering 90% completion rate. The Alfa Romeo series was so compelling, a 30 min show re-packaged from Shorts was broadcast in peak on Channel 4 on the 27th December, delivering 1.5M individuals - Channel 4’s highest audience that day. The objectives were met.
Independent research* demonstrated that viewer perception “Alfa Romeo stirs passionate emotions” increased by 50%, and 35% of recognisers considered Alfa as “a brand I love” (vs 22% non-viewers). We’d stirred their emotion which grew purchase propensity amongst the exposed sample to 47% (vs 26% non-viewers). Most importantly, 13% of viewers who recognized the creative booked a test drive vs 0% of non-viewers. Ultimately this helped Alfa’s UK sales outperform the European average by over 5 percentage points.
