Online marketplace carwow has rolled out a tongue-in-cheek social media campaign designed to highlight the less-than-wow experience consumers have in exchanging their car.
Developed by global digital agency DEPT and its in-house creative teams, the campaign will be showcased across socials, including Meta, YouTube and TikTok.
The four 30-second spots play on common negative tensions that drivers typically experience when changing their cars, before juxtaposing it with the ‘Only WOW’ experience.
The adverts feature carwow chief content officer Mat Watson playing the role of a ‘burnt-out’ car buyer and seller, reliving the experience of using traditional and alternative buying and selling methods.
The films tackle various frustrations, such as from low-ball offers – “Would you part-exchange with my kid’s bike?” – and not getting what you paid for, to dealing with ‘no – shows’.
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In one scene, the protagonist is seen driving a tiny toy car, while in another they are left waiting for a ‘no-show’ seller, as tumbleweed rolls across the shot.
Carwow’s iconic blue ‘WOW’ typography expands across the shot as each ad concludes, alongside the ‘wow’ voiceover – a feature from the brand’s first ads run in 2021.
The campaign was prompted by carwow’s consumer research that indicated nearly half (47%) of people find selling a car stressful, while two in five (41%) find buying a car a stressful process.
“Changing your car is a big deal in anyone’s life with the sums of money involved in many purchases being second only to buying or selling your home. But, our research showed that 40% of drivers are worried they wouldn’t get a fair price when selling their current car,” said carwow chief marketing officer Ben Carter.
“At carwow, we make the car changing experience ‘Only Wow’ – we offer consumers great value, market-wide choice, total convenience and of course, a service they can trust.”
DEPT executive creative director Jeff Bowerman added: “They say don’t lead with negativity in advertising, but anyone who has bought or sold a car before knows it’s not always the smoothest experience.”
“Rather than pretending these experiences don’t exist, being able to highlight the ‘wow’ of carwow’s service – through the relatable ‘less than wow’ experiences we show in the creative – was a really fun campaign for us to create which we hope will see great cut-through.”
The campaign follows in the wake of media network ITV investing £2.5m in the online car marketplace last year.
