[ANTHONYD]

A good creative way to promote the convertible.



Volvo tests weather for C70 launch


Rain or shine, Volvo Cars of Canada is launching a new campaign for its C70 hardtop convertible.

The Toronto-based automaker and its media agency, Sharpe Blackmore Euro RSCG, have partnered with The Weather Network on an eight-week promotion called the “Volvo Rain or Shine Report.”

Airing nine times daily on The Weather Network and its French-language counterpart MÃtÃo MÃdia, the branded 30-second report places a graphic of the C70–its roof either up or down depending on the day’s weather conditions–alongside standard weather reporting icons like sun and clouds. The specialty channels’ on-air personalities also tell viewers whether major Canadian cities are experiencing “top up” or “top down” conditions.

“It’s trying to find a way to integrate the brand and the unique selling point of that vehicle into the different places that you run it,” says Chris O’Hara, media manager for Sharpe Blackmore.

An additional online component features a voken of the C70 that appears when people call up local weather forecasts on theweathernetwork.com or meteomedia.com sites. The car drives onto the screen and the roof goes either up or down.

Volvo has also partnered with Pattison Outdoor Canada on outdoor creative that changes from day to night. During the day, the billboard ads feature a Volvo C70 in the woods surrounded by butterflies. At night, the woods disappear and the car is surrounded by fireflies. The outdoor component is comprised of eight locations in each of the Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal markets. All of the creative features the tag “Let your inside out.”

–Chris Powell