ElectraMeccanica SOLO Launch
I spent a year working to launch and brand the ElectraMeccanica SOLO, an all-electric, single-seat, three-wheeled vehicle. The challenge wasn’t just how to get people to buy such a different car, but how to change the way people think about what they need for transportation. We had to get people thinking “cool” instead of “weird,” and to tell the story of why it was built the way it was. Not just an EV priced that almost anyone could afford, but an EV that uses fewer materials and resources, actually reducing its footprint. We started by exploring a number of different approaches. A few of them are here. First, we embraced the obvious differences to tell the story of why these choices led to a better vehicle, not a bigger one.
Many people are interested in going electric, but price is a huge barrier. Not with SOLO. Here, finally, was an electric almost anyone could afford. And we expanded on that, taking it from a purely economic message and shooting the car in diverse neighborhoods with real people to tell the story that this is the first EV made for everybody.
And, of course, an environmental approach. Or approaches. We looked at focusing on the beauty of our planet, minimizing the car to echo its reduced impact, as well as highlighting the challenges of today’s world. We even contrasted serious headlines with bright and colorful backgrounds. While it was some interesting thinking, research showed saving the planet isn’t a strong motivator. I’m not sure whether I find that surprising or unsurprising.
After a number of meetings and presentations, a new look was approved, incorporated into brand guidelines and a new e-commerce capable website.
Foundation set, we created a number of assets including video for CTV, social and digital, outdoor boards, banners ads, signage and a ton of email.
All this work led up to the official launch at the Los Angeles Auto Show. We helped to design the booth and the test drive experience, along with outdoor and digital driving to the event. Booth traffic was heavy, as was traffic in the test drive area, and the client exceeded their goal for new leads. Next up was just the Super Bowl.