Subaru
How do you strengthen an established brand and improve sales in 10 countries?
Subaru Asia approached Cibo with a simple task: Help us relaunch the Subaru brand in 10 countries and sell more cars.
It wasn’t that simple. To solve this, we took a good look at the people and culture we were trying to reach. The automotive market in southeast Asia has been uniformly boring for more than a decade. Our research suggested this uninspired marketplace was due for a shakeup. So our team injected a bit of inspiration mixed with attitude and the results speak for themselves. We reinvented how these individual countries connected with the Subaru brand and established a coherent and compelling brand platform as a strong foundation on which to build out the entire Subaru Asia brand experience.
By crafting brand personalities for each model, redesigning Subaru Asia’s entire online experience to cover 9 countries, and creating omni-channel campaigns, we managed to raise not only brand awareness and loyalty, but also sales. From broadcast TV advertising to dealer signage, to digital advertising, we continue to elevate the brand to greater prominence and sales success.
My role has been and continues to be creative director, art director, and leading our design team to deliver work that is on brand, on strategy, and getting my hands greasy along the way. And the fruits of our labor have resulted in incremental increase in sales of vehicles by 60% over the last 5 years, with increased YouTube views now in the millions. And we’re not done yet.
Team: Bob Skubic, Nate Sprecher, Lori Louie, Kerrie Malone
Defining each car personality allowed the team to explore expressions to be on brand. For Outback, it was all about intrigue and using black to evoke sophistication.
Art direction of photography also plays a pivotal part in defining the brand personality.
A snapshot of the many brand touchpoints we need to account for, ranging from dealership, website, digital and print advertising, OOH to TV spots.
Our UX team worked closely with Subaru Asia to ensure that the website had to be compliant across 9 countries, and a seamless integration with regional dealership sites.
The website was redesigned to scale appropriately to help tell brand stories, educate customers on safety and technology, and promote each product vehicle.
“It takes a village,” as they say. On any given day, the Subaru design team I lead consists of strategists, art directors, writers, motion and graphic designers, and illustrators.
Unpark Your Life Teaser
This :15 teaser introduces the new Subaru XV as an extension of your active lifestyle. Always moving and living life to the fullest, to go “Unpark Your Life.” The signature XV orange, which dominates much of our launch campaign, injects fun and surprise into any situation. As a teaser that leads up to other Subaru XV spots, we never show the complete car. This is highly unusual for car commercials. The success of this teaser led to an overwhelming increase in inquiry and sales at regional dealerships.
Unpark Your Life: The Boss
The Subaru XV is a compact SUV that handles like a sports car and appeals to a young urban buyer. Through a series of dynamic and humorous TV spots, we developed a distinct personality for the car that injects fun and surprise into any situation. This series begs the question of why you wouldn’t want to “Unpark Your Life?” Our hero daydreams about the adventures that await while stuck at his desk, or mundane moment.
Tryout
The Forester represents a unique combination of pragmatism and rugged persistence that we captured with the tagline “Is There Anything You Can’t Do?” and showcased in a series of TV spots featuring everyday heroes and their families. This spot shows a young girl preparing for tryout day for a spot on the basketball team. We experience the hard work and the support she receives from her father leading up to the big day.
Fun fact. This script was based on my own experience at the time with my daughter trying out for her basketball team. I still get choked up everytime I watch this.
Uncommon Luxury
To sizzle the market with the all-new Outback, with it’s sophisticated looks and advanced technologies, we explored the concept of “turning a boring station wagon into a luxurious SUV.” Essentially your object of desire, with a bit of intrigue and adventure thrown in. This spot focuses on desirability of a lifestyle through a series of montage of expensive accessories compared against the well-designed features of the new Outback. And for performance, we threw in a bit of James Bond to heighten the sense of adventure when you’re driving this SUV in a remote, exotic destination.