Brands are all about content marketing these days, but Volvo is doing the branded part more subtly with its new effort.
The car brand acted more as the patron of the arts rather than the star of the show with its latest video featuring Swedish House Mafia, a popular electronic dance music trio that disbanded this past March. Vovlo, with the help of agency Forsman & Bodenfors, got the trio back together to create a farewell video showing each of the band members going their separate ways in Volvo XC60 cross-country vehicles.
What is cool about this is that the brand’s presence in the artistic video is minimal. Yes, the cars are present, but they aren’t intrusive. The video was shot beautifully featuring grayish Scandinavian landscapes and set to the groups’s early hit “Leave the World Behind You.” For fans of Swedish House Mafia — there are many of them — this is a unique piece of video art from their favorite, now defunct, music group.
There is also a site that goes along with the video campaign that offers fans extra behind-the-scenes look at the video and its creation, including a Tumblr of GIFs from the video.
Other brands should take note of this approach to branded content. It doesn’t shove the brand down people’s throat. It is a cool piece of video art that stands on its own and just happens to have been produced by a brand.
Image via Leave The World Behind Lune
More in Marketing
Omnicom is consolidating B2B shop Doremus+Co with Merkley and Partners
The move is part of ongoing consolidation throughout agencies and holding companies as holding companies look for ways to drive efficiencies and boost revenue.
After keeping them at arm’s length, sports brands are opening the door to creators
The PGA and soccer club Juventus are taking a more progressive approach to creator-based marketing.
Car brands from BMW to Volkswagen lean into in-car gaming
The long-term potential for in-car gaming extends far beyond the relatively brief moments in which drivers are charging or filling their cars. As more vehicles become fully autonomous, drivers’ eyeballs no longer have to be focused on the road, turning them into a potential target for advertisers.