Anyone who drives remembers their first car. Now Subaru and its creative agency, Carmichael Lynch, are tapping into the emotion and memories of loving (or hating) your first car in a new integrated campaign for the new 2012 Subaru Impreza. The hub of the campaign is FirstCarStory.com features an amazing animation/video generator that allows users to recreate the story of their first car through bespoke animation, music, text and voiceover. The site then generates a really cool custom animated short story, which of course are sharable via users social networks.
"Everyone loved their first car, no matter how bad, beat up, or borrowed. That first car became a new chapter in life or a ticket to freedom and first car stories are often the most memorable stories we have," said Alan Bethke, director, marketing communications, Subaru of America. "The First Car Story campaign provides a creative outlet for reliving those unique, funny, unforgettable car experiences anyone who had a first car can relate to."
It's really worth playing with the site to get a full sense of what you can do. I love the idea of turning phrases or words that the user types in the story as a way to trigger a library of animations (ie. typing in pulled over by the cops triggers an animation in the video with sirens and handcuffs.) Another cool aspect is the ability to tag friends in the video, since many of our stories, memories, etc. from our first car include shared experiences with friends from yesteryear. FirstCarStory.com really takes the idea of creating bespoke and personalized content for the user a step further. All in all, just a great branded content tool to provide utility and entertainment to the user.
This really hits home for me, since I loved my first car, a beat up old, white '79 Buick Lesabre, so I took a stab at creating my own video, which you can see below.
Here's a story mashup that Subaru created to illustrate the tool.
Supporting Articles: Creativity
"Everyone loved their first car, no matter how bad, beat up, or borrowed. That first car became a new chapter in life or a ticket to freedom and first car stories are often the most memorable stories we have," said Alan Bethke, director, marketing communications, Subaru of America. "The First Car Story campaign provides a creative outlet for reliving those unique, funny, unforgettable car experiences anyone who had a first car can relate to."
This really hits home for me, since I loved my first car, a beat up old, white '79 Buick Lesabre, so I took a stab at creating my own video, which you can see below.
Here's a story mashup that Subaru created to illustrate the tool.
Supporting Articles: Creativity
Indeed! Reminiscing with the good old stories makes us realize also, that there a lot of lessons to learn from our past experiences, and help us to grow even more as a person. :) Oh! A ‘79 Buick LeSabre? It had a new grille added as a minor change from the 1978 model. Also, Buick LeSabre has this old reputation of being the “the best of the best”. It has proven to have resisted weathering conditions and to adjust to what the clients would ask for. This car is truly a marvel!
ReplyDeleteDante Mallet
Well, first cars have the most colorful driving stories after all. From their first road-trips to accidents and checkpoint stops; those cars make every driving memory more vivid no matter how old they become. Actually my first car was a ‘97 Impreza coupe, which was still in good shape when I sold it to my friend.
ReplyDeleteSebastian Gaydos
Yeah, who would ever forget his/her first ever car? That site is just so cool. The concept is executed very well, and the layout is very user-friendly. Now, you can make your very own car story and turn it into a presentation you can keep for a long time. :)
ReplyDelete-Clint Moore
This campaign is way cool! A lot of people surely remember the joys and sorrows of their first car. It’s like riding down memory lane, and recalling those unforgettable moments with your car – the beastly models, the first break downs, and the memorable trips they had. But it also gives them the opportunity for new car owners to share their experiences with their car. I personally like the Road Trip + Essentials to pack video. It’s fresh, informative, and very useful for the viewers. It’s like a cool video of to dos and must haves for a road trip!
ReplyDeleteLeisa Dreps
What a way to immortalize your car story, huh? :D You’re right; people are very fond with their first car, no matter how bad or good their experience is. Also, the first car is considered your ‘learning car’. When you drive on your first car, mistakes are almost inevitable. That’s a good thing, because you can use that experience when you buy your next car.
ReplyDeleteNicole Vickers