Cannes Lions

Lost Roads

COMMONWEALTH//McCANN, Bogota / CHEVROLET / 2021

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Presentation Image
Case Film

Overview

Entries

Credits

Overview

Background

Chevrolet SUV’s in Colombia are not the first choice for consumers. Brands like Toyota and Ford have been leading the SUV market by far for decades. More than just another brand campaign, we needed to create an action that would generate awareness about our 4x4s and serve as a demo of their capabilities in the most difficult terrain.

We wanted to create a campaign that was not only to be seen, but also to be shared. One that would reach the hearts of all Colombians and allow us to increase our market share in the SUV market.

Idea

In Colombia, a territory the size of Portugal belonged to the guerrillas. For almost 60 years you could not go without running the risk of being kidnapped or getting into a combat zone. Although peace was signed almost 5 years ago, Colombians are still afraid to go. So we used Chevrolet SUV’s to show they can handle any terrain, even those filled with dirt roads and bombed-out bridges. And to find out how to get to the different tourist destinations, we used former guerrillas, who today are seeking a new way of life, as tour guides. We went with a filmmaker and a war reporter to document everything in a 23-minute film that was shown on the Discovery Network to prove the world is possible to return to that area of the country, leaving tourist businesses operated by those people who today need a chance at life.

Strategy

In Colombia, since president changed, proposals to support former guerrillas have ceased to be a priority on the government's agenda. The country is divided between those who support the president and those who see with sadness how, without lack of support for ex-combatants, we can return to the time of war. That is why using ex-guerrillas as the main characters of the film was attractive enough for the media.

“Find new roads” is much more than a slogan and in a territory that has remained off-limits to Colombians and restricted to locals, it was a challenge to find those Lost Roads. So we ventured out to find Colombia's new roads with ex-guerrillas and a journalist known for being a war reporter. She served as the spokesperson and face of the campaign.

Execution

Since the peace treaty, the guerrillas have been incorporated into civilian life. Reinsertion into society has been a difficult process, where communities such as the ones we work with have created cooperatives to create a common capital.

Some NGOs have sponsored business proposals from ex-guerrillas. We worked with the tourism proposals of 5 communities that have been trained for 18 months in different projects..

With them we traced routes that contemplated the most attractive destinations in that former guerrilla territory. A route was drawn up that would also help to showcase the capabilities of Chevrolet's 4x4s. With a war journalist and a filmmaker, we documented the entire journey with the help of Discovery Network.

The film was released in 14 countries and was launched on April 11 (at the closing date for entries to Cannes it had only two broadcasts). It’s also available on Discovery's website and on Chevrolet's website.

Outcome

These are the results achieved 2 weeks after the first broadcast, at the close of Cannes deadline:

TV + Digital Impacts: 23,749,711.

Top 2 in the Discovery Network ratings in the first broadcast and Top 1 in the second broadcast.

4,511,335 people reached by free press.

In just two weeks we have been called by different universities and organizations to show the Film and even the FICCI, International Film Festival of Cartagena de Indias, asked us for a one-hour session where we talked about the documentary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ELtfyY3JluM&t=1768s

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