How a Double Meaning and Some Late Night Comedy Helped VML/Type1 Win a Clio

Earlier this month, VML/Type1 made a big splash when it took home a Grand Clio for Media in New York City. 

Specifically, the piece in question was Volkswagen Canada’s ‘Sans Émission’, which had been created last year to bring the brand’s all-electric ID.4 model into the Quebec market. And, considering the fact that the province comprises the country’s biggest electrical vehicle market, it’s not too hard to see why a standout campaign such as this would be just one of 24 to win an award. 

“Winning a Grand Clio was an incredible honour,” says Allen Kwong, executive creative director at Type1. “Many people worked tirelessly for almost two years to make it a reality, so this feels extremely rewarding.”

So, what does a Clio-winning campaign that’s two years in making look like? And what factors were able to propel this work to international success? As it turns out, a strong sense of strategy, great media partnerships, and a willingness to get different in order to stand out, were all critical. 

“Volkswagen is a smaller brand in Canada, so early on, we knew we needed to do something different to stand out,” explains Allen. “Not only that, but in Quebec, every automotive brand is actively working to grab people’s attention, so our brief and ideation process started there.” 

Herein, many ideas and pitches bubbled to the surface, but in particular, an observation from Montreal-based art director Jérôme Bajulaz proved irresistible. Realising that the phrase ‘Sans Émission’ has two different meanings – “No broadcast” (the overnight period when TV stations go dark), and “No emissions” (with regard to actual vehicles) –  it seemed like the perfect bit of clever wordplay to help bring Volkswagen to the fore. By simply combining the two meanings and showcasing an ID.4 charging during the broadcast downtime, which also happened to line up with when most people plug in their electric vehicles at home, strategically and creatively, there was just something there. 

“It was one of the stranger ideas that came out of the brief, but it was something we all kept coming back to,” recalls Allen. “So, we talked to our media partners at Touché, and they proposed Noovo, a popular entertainment channel that stops broadcasting every night between two and six in the morning.” 

However, this was where the real challenges would begin. For a start, nobody had ever created media like this before, so the team at Type1 had to validate that it was even doable before presenting. 

And, even after that was done, considering the fact that Noovo had never aired anything at the aforementioned times in the history of the channel, the team was literally creating a new media space, which wasn’t easy. 

“Like any innovation, it took time to figure out the logistics of making what is essentially a four-hour-long branded film,” Allen says. “Thankfully, Touché was along for the ride almost from the beginning… but there were still some challenges we never expected. For instance, no one, channel Noovo included, knew how to traffic a four-hour long video file.”

Of course, there was also the fact that the broadcast needed to be entertaining. While there’s much to be said for clever wordplay and opportunities seized, ‘Sans Émission’ also had to promise entertainment, both in order to establish the Noovo partnership in the first place, but also to do the important thing that advertising is supposed to do: draw attention. 

Thankfully, Type1 had the right man for the job pretty much from the get-go, Canadian film actor, comedian, and pre-existing Volkswagen spokesperson, Pier-Luc Funk.

“Considering we were asking people to tune in during the middle of the night to watch an EV ad, we had to give our audience something really entertaining,” adds Allen. “However, Pier-Luc Funk was a natural fit. He’s a rising star in Quebec who honed his improv comedy chops as a cast member of sketch show ‘SNL Québec’. He has a quirky, deadpan style of comedy that really fits Volkswagen well.”

According to Allen, there was also the added benefit that the collaborative process with Pier-Luc was super fun. “Working so closely with a professional comedian was an awesome time for everyone involved,” he continues. “Our team wrote pages of ideas for what Pier-Luc would be doing on set, but knowing that he is a fantastic improv comedian, we left him lots of room to improvise.”

From there on, the final pieces came together quite nicely. With an agreed-upon launch date being the start of the fall TV season (September 16th) – a strategic decision to sync up with a period when people are on the lookout for the next hot show – Type1 and Volkswagen produced out-of-home ads featuring the comedian, and placed them in Montreal’s art and entertainment district, near other billboards promoting movies and TV shows. 

As it turned out, this would work pretty well. Combined with a social media effort from the brand to promote the campaign exactly like the start of a new TV comedy, including a count down to the premiere, and some all-nighter real time tweets on the big day, ‘Sans Émission’ would get enough views – even with the late hours – to make it one of the top six most watched live broadcasts on the channel. 

So, with all that said and done, what are the post award takeaways for the Type1 team? For a start, there’s the fact that a great, award-winning idea doesn’t have to be overly complex in nature. Sometimes, as it turns out, a comedy routine filmed on a soundstage in Montreal during the late hours of the night, all while an electric vehicle charges in the background, is just what a brand needs. 

In fact, Allen says that winning a Grand Clio has just been the cherry on top of all of this. “Our objective is always to generate amazing results for our clients,” he concludes. “‘Sans Émission’ generated strong results for Volkswagen; it increased awareness of it as an electric vehicle brand, purchase consideration and sales, and that feels awesome.”