Iconic car-manufacturer Volvo has teamed up with Great Guns and Euro RSCG 4D Amsterdam to break the traditional car ad mould by enlisting the help of a very special artist to present the new Volvo S60 to the world.
Blind Turkish artist Esref Armagan was invited to Volvo's factory in Gothenburg, Sweden, to feel the Volvo S60 and then paint what he thinks the car looks like. Although the 56 year old has been blind since birth, he has a miraculous ability to depict both shade and perspective in his paintings.
"Because the subject was a real person, not an actor or a car, you have to make it full of respect,' explains Great Guns director Shearer. "It has to celebrate this wonderful and talented person's life."
The entire process was filmed and the eye opening results form the basis of the short form branded campaign for the new Volvo vehicle. For Shearer, it was a refreshing and brave approach for a car commercial to focus on Armagan's creative process rather than the product. " It was nice to do a project that wasn't overtly selling something. It didn't have 'Buy Volvo' at the end, so the viewer feels more connected to the product and rewarded by watching it. It shows Volvo care more about people than cars," he enthuses.
Volvo is certainly no stranger when it comes to playing with the documentary format. Previous campaigns that have used real life observations and experiences as the basis for brand messaging include the 2004 spoof The Mystery Of Dalariö, in which an entire village are reported to have purchased the same car on a single day, and 2005's Life On Board Project, set inside a Volvo.
Shearer says the strategy to focus on a person rather than the product sets Volvo apart as a client. "Most commercials are made-up stories but this wasn't fabrication, this was someone's life. Nowadays, it takes a brave client to do this sort of work," he says.
Working with Armagan was a pleasure for the director and a humbling experience. "We all expect a 'wow look at the experience' but when you consider he has never seen anything in his whole life, the painting becomes an incredible feat. Picasso would have loved the abstract nature of his work," says Shearer.
To catch your glimpse of the results from Armagan and Volvo check the spot out below and head over to the Volvo Facebook page for more.
The Volvo S60 will be making its debut at the Geneva motor show in March next year.
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