VOLVO TRUCKS
Designed to change everything
The trucking industry has been built by road cowboys, where the toughest, rowdiest and dirtiest truck and driver win the day. This longstanding legacy, however, has also slowed the industry’s path toward innovation and modernization.
But Volvo has never really bought into that stereotype — they’ve always been about innovating luxury trucks to lead the industry. We were named lead agency for the brand’s largest product launch in history, and with a new crop of drivers who see the world through more progressive eyes, we knew Volvo needed to appeal to the “drivers of the future.”
We defined this as a shift in the the conversation from innovating trucks today to driving the future of transportation for tomorrow. And, in doing so, bring to life the category-shattering technological art that each and every Volvo truck is through the “Designed to change everything” campaign.
TOP SECRET TRUCK.
WORST HIDING PLACE EVER.
Sometimes, the best way to build excitement is to hide in plain sight. That’s the route we took with “#WhatTheTruck,'' the teaser ad campaign for the brand new Volvo VNL to launch on January 23, 2024. To amplify the unexpected, we planted a secret truck at…well, a truck stop.
Maximizing the element of surprise, “#WhatTheTruck” was devilishly simple: park a camouflage-wrapped Volvo VNL truck at a highly trafficked rest stop with no explanation, context, Volvo markings or registration numbers, then watch real life-truckers react to the sleek design and premium features. The sole branding on the truck? The mysterious hashtag, “#WhatTheTruck.” The inspiration came partly from the fact that Volvo had already been testing its secret truck on highways and attracting social media attention — a truck-stop stunt was a natural next step.
Alex Nino, the well-known 26-year-old trucking influencer, amplified the reach by posting the “#WhatTheTruck” video, telling his 2.3 million TikTok followers to tune in on January 23 – the date the truck was officially unveiled with a digital reveal and a full 360 campaign.
TEASER CAMPAIGN RESULTS
From January 2, 2024, to launch day on January 23, 2024, the “#WhatTheTruck” teaser campaign delivered close to 50 million impressions across platforms with over 10.7 million ThruPlays of the “#WhatTheTruck” videos. Dozens of media outlets picked up the story and the news really built up around Volvo’s biggest launch in history.
“We’re thrilled with the excitement Baldwin& built around the new Volvo VNL. They treated the trucks like the technological works of art they are and created buzz among the audience most important to us: the truck drivers of tomorrow. Research shows they’re younger, more diverse, and expect technology to help them lead the way toward a sustainable future. With “#WhatTheTruck,” Baldwin& gave them an exciting first glimpse of what that future looks like.”
Will Bender
Digital Marketing Manager at Volvo Trucks North America
PRESS
Following the 20-day teaser campaign, we then launched the VNL with a streaming digital reveal hosted on Volvo Truck North America’s new website, as well as YouTube. And backed that with strategic paid media mix across all major social platforms — Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube — plus a programmatic buy with custom placement and featured interactive elements to help drive engagement.
LAUNCH CAMPAIGN RESULTS
Over the next month, we continued to spread the news of the all-new Volvo VNL, adding 28 million impressions, including 10 million video views and an additional 33,000 link clicks. The first three months of 2024 have the best performing results Volvo Trucks has ever seen, and new content continues to outperform month-over-month.
