Literally everyone in the Czech Republic knows SKODA AUTO and its model the OCTAVIA. It is one of the best-selling models in Europe. The long-awaited new generation of the OCTAVIA, which features many technological innovations and a new design, was ready to launch in April 2020.

At that time the Czech Republic was under complete lockdown due to the coronavirus.

What an unfortunate time to launch a new car!

The main goal was to come up with an innovative approach that would complement a traditional TV campaign and increase awareness of the new model while presenting all the smart technologies and details the new car offers.

We used a completely new and revolutionary approach to dynamic audio creatives that had never been used in the Czech Republic before.

Through tapping into key moments during the day resonating with listeners, we were able to create awareness and interest around the OCTAVIA launch.

We used software that compiled six dynamic passages into one appealing audio spot. Each of these six passages could take up to ten different variants. We worked with up to 100 different elements of the spot.

At the same time, we optimised the frequency to minimise the potential wearing-out of the messages.

The campaign ran for three weeks in April and May 2020.

For maximum reach, we used a combination of Spotify and other digital audio platforms available in the Czech Republic. The inventory was purchased programmatically.

The spot was automatically tailored to each listener according to an array of variables:

specific broadcast time

day of the week

weather conditions

type of device

playlist genre

new model improvements

Thanks to this contextual targeting, a tailor-made message was created and delivered to each listener. The spot introduced only the technologies and equipment that were relevant to that specific situation and time.

The digital platform identified the listener and offered them a slightly different spot every time. The average frequency was three times per unique listener, with the listener never hearing the same spot twice.

The split between the media platforms was optimised according to real time performance – cost and completion rate.

Due to coronavirus, search for automotive keywords fell by 25%. We produced the opposite effect on the ŠKODA OCTAVIA product pages. Paid search increased by 74%, organic search by 24% and direct traffic to the website was 23% above normal.

Not only did the campaign increase website traffic, it also increased test drive requests. Aided by the 1,080 different creative audio ads we contextually delivered to the right audience at the right time, with a completion rate (Listener Through Rate) of 94%. We achieved 1m impressions, and 309k unique listeners.

The client, SKODA AUTO, was thrilled with the results and, in particular, our innovative approach to the campaign.