Saab

BRIEF
The new Saab 9-3 SportWagon was launched at the Geneva Motor show in February 2005. With a release date for the UK not scheduled until September 2005, Saab were seeking a suitable way to incentivise and continuously communicate with their UK customers.

THOUGHT PROCESS
We could not rely on conventional methods like mail shots or a monthly email marketing campaign. We felt these approaches would be viewed as too intrusive and pedestrian over the many months leading up to the launch.  We were also wary of producing something impactful but that could peak too soon. We wanted to provide their customers with an interactive experience, something that would be informative, enticing, effortlessly easy-to-use, and fun - and with enough longevity to span the 6 months' period between the motor show launch and arrival in the showrooms.

SOLUTION
Base One Interactive suggested to Saab they could create an interactive application that customers could download to their desktops, and which would become a regular source of news, information, and features about the 9-3 SportWagon. We called it Saab iNews: part e-brochure, part microsite, part countdown and part press release – it fulfilled (and still fulfils) a variety of functions. Saab iNews promised customers that they would be among the first to find out the 9-3 SportWagon’s full specifications, options, accessories and pricings. They would also be able to read news, reviews and road test results, book a test drive and receive flash-enabled interactive content. Once downloaded to a user’s desktop, iNews checks for updates whenever a customer goes online. It then downloads any new material and automatically informs the user that new content is available. The aim was to effortlessly feed customers a steady trickle of appealing information, and slowly build up expectations, as opposed to flooding customers with statistics and details (and revealing too much, too soon). The end result is that customers receive a library of interactive content on their desktop that provides everything they need as they progress through the purchase cycle.