Volvo: Care By Volvo Mobile App
Volvo Car USA challenged Grey New York to launch the XC40 by attracting a younger, millennial audience who viewed traditional car ownership as a burden. The goal was to disrupt the industry's outdated sales model and increase brand acquisition by creating a digital-first experience that aligned with modern subscription-based consumer habits.
Creative Idea
Turned car ownership into a one-tap mobile subscription service including insurance and maintenance.
Volvo transformed car ownership into a seamless digital subscription service via a mobile app, tapping into the millennial preference for access over ownership by bundling insurance, maintenance, and financing into a single, hassle-free monthly payment.
The 39 Second Car Deal That Sold Out a Year of Stock
Subverting the three day wait
The technical backbone of the campaign relied on a partnership with FICO to dismantle the industry's biggest friction point: the credit check. By digitizing a process that traditionally took three days of manual paperwork, the team enabled real-time approvals averaging just 39 seconds. This backend innovation allowed the app to accept Apple Pay, Venmo, and PayPal for deposits, successfully treating a luxury vehicle with the same transactional ease as a Netflix or Spotify account.
Capturing the subscription generation
The strategy paid off with unprecedented speed, selling out the entire one-year allotment of XC40 subscriptions in just four months. The demographic shift was equally stark; the average subscriber was 45 years old, making them 10 years younger than the typical new car buyer. Perhaps most vital for Volvo’s long-term growth, 91% of these customers were entirely new to the brand, lured by the "Mobility-as-a-Service" model rather than traditional automotive specs.
From Tomb Raider to the Super Bowl
To build cultural momentum, Volvo utilized a media partnership with the 2018 Tomb Raider film, featuring the XC40 in social-first assets on Snapchat. They later doubled down on the digital-first approach with an "anti-commercial" Super Bowl strategy, incentivizing viewers to look away from the TV and keep their eyes on the Volvo app during the game. Creative Karl Risenfors summed up the philosophy behind the shift: "In a society of abundance, the things you own can end up owning you. By not owning things, you are not owned by things."
Creative Strategy Deconstructed
Company
A premium automotive brand with a reputation for safety and a desire to attract younger, tech-savvy drivers.
Category
Traditional car buying involves complex negotiations, separate insurance, and long-term debt commitments that alienate younger consumers.
Customer
Millennials value access and flexibility over the burdens of ownership, preferring flat-rate subscriptions for their lifestyle needs.
Culture
The rise of the subscription economy has normalized paying for access to music, movies, and software.
Company
A premium automotive brand with a reputation for safety and a desire to attract younger, tech-savvy drivers.
Category
Traditional car buying involves complex negotiations, separate insurance, and long-term debt commitments that alienate younger consumers.
Strategy:
Transform a high-friction ownership model into a low-commitment subscription service to align with modern digital consumption habits.
Customer
Millennials value access and flexibility over the burdens of ownership, preferring flat-rate subscriptions for their lifestyle needs.
Culture
The rise of the subscription economy has normalized paying for access to music, movies, and software.
Strategy:
Transform a high-friction ownership model into a low-commitment subscription service to align with modern digital consumption habits.
Results
The campaign saw significant success, selling more subscriptions in the first three weeks than had been estimated for the entire quarter. It received extensive media coverage from major outlets including Adweek, SlashGear, Engadget, and Jalopnik. The service's popularity exceeded expectations, with a continuous increase in subscription numbers shown through a counter that reaches over 238 in the video's montage.
3 weeks
to exceed quarterly sales estimates
238+
subscriptions in initial period
100%
digital subscription process
Strategy Technique
Build an Utility, Not an Ad
Instead of just advertising a car, Volvo built a digital ecosystem that solved the complex pain points of ownership, making the service itself the primary marketing vehicle for a younger demographic.
Explore Technique
Creative Technique
Unexpected Utility
The campaign introduced a functional tool that bypassed traditional dealership friction, offering a streamlined, all-inclusive subscription model that treated a luxury vehicle with the same digital ease as a Netflix account.
Explore Technique
Craft Breakdown
The campaign's success lies in its seamless integration of a modern digital experience with a traditional automotive product, effectively tapping into millennial consumer trends.
The app's user interface is intuitive and mirrors the ease of popular subscription services, making the complex process of car acquisition feel simple.
The messaging effectively bridges the gap between familiar subscription habits and the novel concept of subscribing to a vehicle.
