The brief was to promote Volkswagen 4Motion 4-wheel-drive cars. We knew that 25% of car buyers only visit one car show room, and 4motion drivers are more loyal to Volkswagen. Thus, the task was two-fold:1. Make it credible that Volkswagen cars can handle the Swedish winter.2. Make people try Volkswagen’s 4MOTION cars.The insight we used is that Swedish winter is longer, colder, snowier and harsher than most places, which is relevant for both the target group and the product. So why not let the winter dictate the campaign? Enter a Swedish brown bear called Freja. As long as Freja slept, you could take part in the offer. Once hibernation was over, so was the offer. Films, banners, radio and print directed to a site where you could see Freja live throughout the winter and get more information on Volkswagen’s winter adjusted cars. The site had 221,067 unique visitors during the campaign period. During the campaign, 3,300 winter-adjusted cars were sold. The campaign helped Volkswagen increase the total market share by almost 4% during the campaign period.PR elementsMaking the bear the centre point for the campaign aimed at creating talk value and acted as a social lubricant.

The campaign almost doubled the number of visitors to Volkswagen's web site.The 'fan club' that the bear created was used to spark positive dialogues between people and Volkswagen, going beyond traditional advertising campaigns.

Volkswagen is designed to handle Swedish winter by using a Swedish Haldex 4WD-system. In Sweden, the winter conditions dictate the life of both man and animal. So why not let the winter also dictate the campaign? This year our offer was dictated by a Swedish brown bear called Freja. As long as Freja slept, you could take part of the offer.

Once hibernation was over, so was the offer. Films, banners, radio and print promoting the offer directed to a site where you could see the bear live throughout the winter and get more information on Volkswagen’s winter adjusted cars. With the bear as a social centre point, we gave people a reason to talk about the campaign and Volkswagen, at the same time priming 4MOTION technology cars as adjusted for Swedish winter.

The site had 221,067 unique visitors during the campaign period, an increase of almost 400% compared with the previous winter offer campaign.

During the campaign, 3,300 winter-adjusted cars were sold. Since this was a substantial part of Volkswagen’s total sales, the campaign helped Volkswagen increase the total market share by almost 4% during the campaign period and also increase long-term loyalty since 4Motion drivers stay more loyal to Volkswagen.

By making an emotionally driven campaign, we created something worth watching, talking about and sharing.