Volvo Cars Appoints Grey London as Global AOR

Volvo Car Group (Volvo Cars) today announces Grey London Advertising (Grey London) as its new global creative agency. The contract will start 1st of January 2014.

“We are delighted to have Grey London onboard, taking Volvo Cars to the next level by visualizing our personality and releasing the full potential of our unique brand,” said Alain Visser, SVP Sales Marketing & Customer Service at Volvo Cars.

Grey London’s strong global insights, combined with the ability to make Volvo Cars relevant in each individual region, will play a very important role in the transformation journey and the ambition to create a more premium visual of the Volvo Cars brand.

The aim is to portray a more sophisticated image, built on the unique Swedish heritage that demonstrates confidence and unconventional attitude.

“Grey London has proven that they are capable of delivering what we are looking for. The team has, in a very short period of time, shown a very good understanding of our brand and our needs,” said Alain Visser.

Volvo Cars agency review was focused on a pitch for the launch of the next Volvo XC90 due to be introduced to the market in 2014.

The new Volvo XC90, an important carrier of the brand image, will be the first car built on with our new design direction on the new SPA architecture. It was therefore decided to base the pitch on this immensely important product launch. Each agency was asked to proof their capabilities with strategy for the Brand and Creative proposals for the XC90.

The objective was to find a partner that share the conviction of finding a unique Volvo way of creating both relevance and differentiation to customers, and to challenge the conventional way of going to market. 

“Grey London is a partner that can help us to tell the true story of our brand and present our values beyond safety and reliability. Volvo Cars, being a small and nimble brand, sought the same qualities in our creative partner. Grey’s deep understanding of our brand will ensure strong and consistent brand communication,” said Tomás Caetano, Vice President of Brand Marketing at Volvo Cars.

David Patton, CEO and President of Grey EMEA commented, “We are deeply proud to have Grey London partner with Volvo Cars, one of the world's most iconic, innovative automobile brands. We can’t wait to get started in 2014 - we’re going to do some amazing work together”.

The final decision was made following a global creative agency review that was announced in June 2013 and has involved the participation of six agencies, with just four agencies presenting their full proposals.