Volvo takes Reality Road
The latest Volvo Trucks social media ad campaign adopts a very different approach to traditional truck manufacturer marketing...Volvo Trucks is about to reveal its latest social media advertising campaign, with a YouTube-based reality TV series dubbed Reality Road set to showcase life on the road in a Volvo prime mover through the eyes of Swedish-American pop artist, Mapei.
Mapei teams with friend and director Liza Minou Morberg for a nine-day whistle-stop tour of Europe, their mission being to construct a new music video clip for Mapei's latest song, Million Ways to Live. All the equipment required to make the clip, from props to camera and recording gear, is contained in the trailer being hauled by the Volvo FH500, while the truck itself is in the expert hands of Jens Karlsson.
A truck driver with 28 years' experience, Karlsson also guided the one of the vehicles in Volvo's viral ad smash hit, The Epic Split, where Jean-Claude Van Damme performs the splits between two reversing Volvo trucks fitted with Volvo Dynamic Steering.
That clip has now racked up nearly 80 million views on YouTube since its release in November 2013.
While Reality Road perhaps lacks the 'wow factor' of The Epic Split, Volvo says it hopes to showcase the various services offered by Volvo Trucks while shedding some light on the role of the modern truck driver before a broader audience.
Shot over a total of eight episodes, Reality Road adopts a reality TV approach to covering Mapei's trip – she and Liza don't know what's happening from one day to the next, and so the music clip's creation is a fluid, ever-evolving endeavour.
From performing with drag artists on a truck ferry to Poland to a spontaneous gig in the suburbs of Paris, the series represents a very different take on truck manufacturer marketing.
Per Nilsson, Director Public Relations Volvo Trucks, says the series represents a first for truck manufacturers.
"With Reality Road we want to show the strength of our service offerings," he says.
"For a truck to stay on the road, the services that are linked to it are just as important as the vehicle itself. At the same time, we want to produce TV entertainment that attracts a wider audience. As far as I know, no other company has used reality TV for marketing purposes."
The first three episodes of Reality Road will be uploaded to the Volvo Trucks YouTube channel on Thursday, June 11, but for a taste of what's to come check out the teaser clip below…
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