While electric vehicle (EV) market penetration is quite high in Quebec – number two in Canada, according to data from S&P Global Mobility reports – the Volkswagon brand itself isn’t a well-known EV option.
That’s why the automaker, with the help of creative agency Taxi/Type1 and media shop Touche!, transformed Quebec TV station Noovo’s overnight end-of-broadcast into a media space.
The live EV activation was intended to build awareness for VW’s all-electric ID.4 and “turn branded content on its head,” according to Allen Kwong, Taxi/Type1’s group creative director.
Kwong says it all started with “a really fun realization that, in Quebec, ‘Sans Émission’ has two meanings: ‘no broadcast,’ the overnight period when TV stations go dark and night owls have nothing to watch; and ‘no emission,’ referring to all-electric vehicles.”
“Sans Émission” was the start, and “after over a year of research into several partners, we identified Bell’s Noovo as the perfect match,” says Emilie Bertrand, associate media director at Touche! “Noovo airs a ‘We will be back at 6am’ message throughout the night [when regular programming ends],” says Bertrand. So the idea was to position the live TV activation like the launch of new TV show.
The team partnered with comedian, actor, and VW spokesperson, Pier-Luc Funk, to host an overnight end-of-broadcast “show,” filmed on a sound stage in one single-sequence shot with Volkswagon’s all-electric ID.4 charging in the background.
“It was an exciting media innovation,” says Kwong. “It was a chance to become the first advertiser to use four consecutive hours of overnight airtime, which is also when most EV owners charge their cars. It was the perfect time to disarm people with comedy, while also sneaking in EV information in a way that felt super fun and approachable.”
Leading up to the activation, Touche! and Taxi/Type1 also tapped into the excitement of a new TV show launch, promoting “Sans Émission” on TV and online the week prior to airing, along with OOH, OLV, digital, social media (with the brand’s social team pulling an all-nighter, posting real-time commentary and live responses), radio, listings in the TV Guide, as well as its own “show” page on Noovo’s website after it aired on September 16, where audiences can still watch replays.
“It’s always a challenge to do something that’s never been done before,” says Kwong. “From initial idea to launch, it took over a year. ‘Sans Émission’ was the product of a lot of research and collaboration.”
