Auto Trader Relaunches with New ‘Tell New Zealand About Your Car’ Campaign with 4AM and The Sweetshop

In collaboration with 4AM, Lassoo, and Unbound, the campaign captures the quirks of Kiwi car culture with humour and charm, turning the everyday task of selling your car into something memorable.

“It’s actually a campaign about advertising. The TVC shows people trying to write an ad, but they forget the brief. We got quite confused working on it. It’s a brand awareness campaign, but it thinks it’s a promotion,” says strategic lead David Thomason, “but the most memorably distinctive asset will probably be the half-eaten hairy jet plane.”

The result is a spot that’s as engaging as it is relatable, “Kiwis love to tell stories about their cars, we actually get emotionally attached to them” says Ross Logue, managing director of Auto Trader.

Rolling out across TV, online video, digital OOH, cinema, radio, PR, performance media and partnerships, the new campaign plays on Kiwi’s unique sense of humour. AutoTrader is also encouraging New Zealanders to become a part of the campaign by selecting 10 winners each month based on their listing creativity. The winners will then receive a nationwide billboard campaign and free exposure for their car sale.

“Being a nostalgic Kiwi brand, Auto Trader is perfectly placed to incorporate our culturally nuanced humour into the campaign,” says Kurt Bradley, managing director and ECD at 4AM.

“Expect to see some catchy one-liners like ‘may contain traces of child’ and ‘it’s 23cm too long for my new garage.’”