Designed Around You

Volvo Cars was known for safety. But safety, expressed in crash ratings and structural engineering, was not performing in the premium category against competitors like BMW and Audi.

Volvo's Scandinavian origins provided a unique opportunity to explore the simplicity in design and to create vehicles that were designed around people.

The communication strategy that followed reframed innovations and product features like engine performance and range around real human needs, feelings and lifestyle. It became the brief for Volvo's network of agencies worldwide.

The brand platform also led the digital strategy, informed by a five-market study combining surveys, online interviews and usability testing.

While manufacturers want to talk about engines and specifications, people just want to imagine what their life would be like if they owned the car. This insight led to an overhaul of the website and configurator to better match people's expectations of shopping for a car online: packages rather than parts, lifestyle photography rather than cutaways, and little personal details like a visual that shows what fits in the trunk, be it strollers, golf clubs, or suitcases. The trunk visuals ended up inside the cars themselves, with later production models adopting them into the interior design.

The platform lifted engagement and lead quality across markets, and the digital work was recognised for its commercial effect.

Silver, CLIO Awards — Creative Effectiveness in Automotive Marketing.