With four key product launches due in 2017 Maserati sought a content partnership with The Economist to raise awareness about its new Levante SUV considering the key dates ahead of each seasonal launch.

 

The digital strategy should promote engagement with a global target audience of wealthy, well-educated individuals who are leaders in their field. Content should appeal to this discerning group of high net-worth individuals by addressing their interests, as well as communicating the Levante brand philosophy through credible storytelling.

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Concept and content

We presented the client with a number of possible creative routes using film as the medium of choice to build our narrative, followed by SEO optimised copy, all hosted in a dedicated content hub within the economist domain.

 

Data insights guided us to a creative route that addressed our audience's personal interests, and communicated the Levante brand philosophy through credible storytelling. In the end, the content took the form of inspirational human stories that reflected Maserati's core attributes: 'performance', 'design' and 'quality'.

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After an extensive round of names and possible stories to feature in the films the client agreed with Giovanni Soldini, skipper of Maserati Multi70, a revolutionary 21-metre-long trimaran and its sailing team talking about performance; then Bulgari Watches Design Director, Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani discussing innovation, creativity and design; thirdly, they invited Swiss producer of some of the world’s best caviar and Balik salmon, Peter Rebeiz. To conclude the series we interviewed Roberto Corradi, Maserati’s Head of Vehicle Concept & Integration where the previous subjects all come together wrap the narrative with the Maserati Levante.

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Asset and channel strategy

We sought to create high impact at the campaign launch with double page spread advertorials in '1843', The Economist's lifestyle magazine; a 24 hour global takeover on TheEconomist.com; and cover placements in the 'Digital Edition' app. The audience was directed to a dedicated, rich-media content hub which revealed one story every few weeks to coincide with the key car launches. This was accompanied by timed programmatic advertising and re-targeting in order to sustain activity throughout the campaign cycle.

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The content was designed to support all platforms, adjusting assets depending on where users were accessing them from. To optimise dwell-time on the video asset in the desktop experience we develop a custom player that would float the video on scrolling, keeping it always in view. 

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Conclusion

The programme has exceeded engagement benchmarks in the luxury automobile segment and has put a stake in the ground in the Gran Turismo SUV category. A perfect Italian job done with the help of The Economist.