WE are opel
Client: Opel
PR, Social Media, Branding
Opel was going through a dark period. There was a big risk Opel would go out of business due to huge debts, factories and dealerships closing down. A huge amount of workers would be unemployed and a traditional German brand would be lost forever.
Solution:
First: creation of a concept line that would pride and passion for a national brand: Wir Sind Opel (We Are Opel). Next, we created a blog, managed by real workers, telling personal stories of glories and conquests of Opel's workers throughout the years. Together with the blog, we released a T-shirt that would be sold online. The money from sales was used to create an emergency fund for workers in case they needed financial assistance in the future.
Results:
The blog was a huge success among the workers, who took part in this initiative. T-shirts were sold out in 2 weeks. New pieces were produced together with new products such as car stickers and flags. Soon it spread through friends until it reached a point where national media coverage was attained. The success brought an initial demonstration at Rüsselsheim involving 5,000 people, and achieved extensive media coverage.
As a result, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, scheduled an official visit to the factory. 8,000 people were there supporting the brand. From that day forward, the German government was acutely aware of how important the brand was for the people and how big the issue was. The German government decided to help Opel financially.
