I must admit, when I first saw the link-up Volvo were doing with the Twilight franchise, I was pretty skeptical of this seemingly unconnected brand partnership, and what the benefits would be for the Volvo brand experience (apart from pure exposure). Is this really a perfect partnership, or is it just a case of brand wagon band wagon?
The XC60 is a reasonably expensive car, and not the type of motor that one would immediately fit together with Twilight’s youth demographic. Now, I’ve never seen a Twilight movie, and never driven an XC60 (but I do like them!) so I fully admit I’m not the most educated to comment on this matter. But, for me, Volvo is ‘Safety’ something that doesn’t seem to really connect with vampires or werewolves and the like. I know movies transcend their given age brackets and brands transcend their predicted targets, but still, for me this was a leap.
One thing that is quite nice about this ‘brand union’ is the campaign site – Lost in forks. The site, created by Euro RSCG 4D (Holland) and LBi Sweden, takes you to the real life town Forks in an online game based on the Eclipse movie. While you’re there you have to find the quickest way to the Cullen House by solving the clues in the forks in the road. It’s a nicely crafted site with some atmospheric photography and subtle animation. A nice link to live discussions on route choice allows for an amount of social connection and of course there’s the obligatory Facebook connection.
Nice site. Still unsure about the brand connection though!
