Land Rover South Africa (LRSA) proves that not only do its vehicles Go Beyond, but so too does its marketing campaigns. At the 2010 Apex Awards ceremony hosted on Thursday, 27 May at the Vodadome in Midrand. LRSA received a Silver Apex Award for its Land Rover Discovery 4 campaign in the ‘Launch’ category, while its Land Rover ‘Demo Deals’ campaign was shortlisted in the ‘Change’ category.
Founded in 1995, the Apex Awards promote greater accountability in the industry by rewarding campaigns that work, sell and resonate in the minds of their target audiences, and in so doing, deliver results. The adjudication process is notoriously stringent, as entrants must provide evidence of the effectiveness of their marketing communications – and in so doing, prove that their entries have achieved performance excellence by contributing a measurable return on investment. This year’s ceremony marked the first true annual cycle of the awards.
The winners were awarded in one of three categories: Launch, Change, and Sustain. Launch recognises brands or services that are less than 12 months old with no significant history of advertising. In Change, new campaigns from previously advertised brands which resulted in significant short-term effects on sales and/or behaviour (short-term being within a period of no more than 18 months) are recognised and awarded. Sustain is for campaigns that benefited a business by maintaining or strengthening a brand over a long period, eg 36 months.
The Discovery 4 campaign led to remarkable results for Land Rover. “Across all measurement criteria the campaign performed exceptionally well,” says Wunderman’s Strategic Planning Director, Christina Forsdyke, “but we are particularly proud of the sales and market share results. Across the campaign period sales objectives were exceeded by 91% and by the end of the campaign, monthly sales targets were surpassed by a massive 187%. Together with fantastic sales figures, Discovery also made considerable headway in gaining market share. At the end of 2008 Discovery held 21% of the medium premium utility segment, but with the launch it increased its year-on-year market share to 24.3%.”
The ‘Demo Deals’ campaign delivered beyond expectations and demonstrated that unconventional approaches can be effective. In an exceptionally trying market, the campaign managed to ensure that Land Rover increased average sales by 8%. Over and above this, from a financial perspective the campaign delivered a return on investment of a phenomenal 641%.
“We are thrilled to have received this award,” says Roland Reid, Brand and Communications Manager for Land Rover South Africa. “In a time of global recession, campaigns had to be truly exceptional to have made an impact. I’m exceptionally proud of the work that went into these campaigns and would like to congratulate the whole team on this wonderful achievement.”
