Holden partners with Pedestrian TV to ‘spark change’ with new content series via Carat
To celebrate the launch of its all new small car, the Holden Spark, Holden – in partnership with Carat and Pedestrian TV – have set out to change the way they talk to the younger female car buyer, in response to learning 87% of them feel misunderstood by the auto industry.
Through an integrated partnership managed by Carat’s specialist sponsorship division, Carat Connect, Holden will highlight the key features of the new Spark via a compelling content series on Pedestrian, filmed from the perspective of some of Australia’s most influential young women – the ‘Spark Tribe’.
The Spark Tribe consists of several young female entrepreneurs, including Frank Body founders, Erika Geraerts, Bree Johnson and Jess Hatzis, Canva creator Melanie Perkins, interior designer Stephanie Stematis, and Sporteluxe’s Bianca Chey. Each ambassador was hand-picked to reflect the brand identity of the Spark, grounded in authenticity and realness – elements often absent from auto advertising.
The three-part content series will roll out over five months, with viewers offered an up close and personal ‘behind the scenes’ look at the real lives of the Spark Tribe members, including life at the helm of their successful respective businesses. Episodes will be amplified via Pedestrian and Holden’s digital platforms.
Says Geraldine Davys, executive director of marketing, GM Holden: “This campaign is not about cosmetic improvements to our way of working; it’s about sparking a real and genuine change in how Holden engages the younger car buyer. We’re excited to see all aspects of the campaign come to life over the coming months – ‘Spark Tribe’ is just the start.”
Says Jarrad Provis, group business director, Carat: “The ‘Spark Change’ campaign is about us acknowledging the value exchange millennials expect from their interactions with all brands – auto or otherwise. The ‘Spark Tribe’ content still tells them all they need to know about a great small car, but it does it in the context of authentic, inspiring content in line with their goals and aspirations.”
The broader ‘Spark Change’ campaign was created in conjunction with AJF Partnership, and includes pop up ‘dealership’ activations, street posters, street furniture, social, retail OOH, and online video.
16 Comments
How does something like this make women feel more understood by the motor industry? Plopping a car into a story about skincare? The only tenuous tie-in is the name of the car being turned into a pun.
Drop in a Corolla or Yaris or Swift. Wouldn’t make a difference.
It’s just another episode of The Block with the contestants driving around in the sponsor’s vehicle.
‘We don’t know what to say about this car, so let’s take the focus completely off it and make content!’
Lazy. Really lazy.
And really does feel like the press release is desperately trying convince us it’s good.
Sorry, guys. But there’s got to be a better way to engage women than this.
Everything about this campaign, from the strategy, to the pedestrian executions, to the awful press release is evil.
Those responsible deserve to be boiled alive. Slowly.
This is so formulaic and tired, I can’t even criticizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
This is horrible. Especially for a new make, I feel nothing but sorrow for the people who worked on this.
Oh my this is REALLY bad, embarrassing.
Car name – Spark
Brief – Spark something
Idea – Spark change
Ideas that didn’t make the cut:
Spark plug
Be the spark
Disabled car-spark
I did Holden car research and ad development for over 15 years and this is the worst ad I have EVER seen. As a woman I am offended at this rubbish and Holden fire this mob and whoever tested the ad. I would have taken one look at the execution and said ‘I don’t need you to spend $20K testing that’. It’s awful – go back to the drawing board and start again. Women think kittens are under the hood…? WTF!!!!
I think the activation around Australia’s ‘disabled carspark’ the inspiration carapace for impaired drivers would have been a whole lot better.
Pedestrian
Reeks of privileged Melbourne private schoolgirls with no real clue about life.
Great way to alienate your target market – hey, here’s a car for chicks who have very little idea about what they’re doing, but daddy pays the bills anyway.
Have to say a Shit Car and a Shit Ad goes Hand in Hand , Great Way to Burn Holden and yes Lets not Go There lol
No campaign credits?
Says it all.
But, how are the sales going?
It could just work….
Aah said it all ….. pedestrian!
Terrible campaign.
If you’re going to PR this crap then why not put credits? I’d say those involved said don’t put their names on it. Too embarrassing.
Also..why would any woman with a brain be interested in watching this?
The idea that you can call a piece of film content and then suddenly throw out all the rules of needing to be engaging and earn people’s attention is ridiculous.
Our business has always been about making content. We call them ads whether they are shown on line, are 15 seconds or three minutes. Anyone worth their salt would never be deluded enough to believe that we don’t have to earn people’s attention when creating this content.
I am over people who talk rubbish about content strategies and have no idea about the basics of how advertising works.
Hi Guys,
The omission of campaign credits was not intentional. We’re really proud of the campaign and are happy to put our names to it. Mine is Tess Murphy from Carat – I was responsible for both the media strategy and the ‘awful press release’.
We’re going to need a pretty big pot, because the following ‘evil’ Carat people will be joining me in ‘boiling alive’ for their work on the campaign:
Jarrod Provis: Group Business Director
Sarah Jenkins: Business Director
Ant O’Callaghan: Digital Director
Creative credits to come.