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DS Automobiles

DS Automobiles Parallax video

Telling the story of French luxury.

Launched as a standalone brand in 2018, DS Automobiles has grown to a network of 26 strategically placed UK retailers and a product range of four key models including the E-Tense electric range. The brand's electric credentials are demonstrated further with recent driver and manufacturer wins in the Formula-E championships. But despite this growth and success they remain a challenger brand in the ultra-competitive UK premium market, with lower awareness compared to the more established marques like BMW, Audi, Mercedes and Lexus. We Are Acuity has partnered with DS Automobiles through their UK journey from day one and look forward to many more successful years to come. 

 

CL 19.503.012-1

 

Listen instead?

Challenge

In such a competitive segment of the market you must give consumers reasons to believe before you start talking tactical offers. There’s lots of great choice, established brands and brilliant products all evenly priced. Why should they consider DS? What are the USPs? What’s different about the brand? This is brand storytelling.

Our challenge was to enhance this storytelling in line with the latest brand positioning and product range, in a way which could be used by the brand themselves at national level, but also by the retailer network in conversations with local customers.

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Insight

From our experience of working in partnership with the DS team and their retailers we knew they had a great story to tell. The reasons to believe for UK consumers are many and varied – Parisian luxury, expert French craftsmanship in every detail, a growing model range that meets all needs and an impressive electric vehicle proposition. Not to mention the brands exclusive ‘Only You’ customer benefits programme. They truly offer something different, but awareness in the UK is low. We also knew that DS had great assets in terms of still photograph, animation and video.

But this content felt quite separated and not easy to access for consumers or retailers alike. If we could find a way to aggregate this content and bring it together in one place we could add real value to both parties. Our close relationship with the DS retailer network meant we knew they were excited by the products they were selling, but struggling to promote the uniqueness of the brand at local level.

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Solution

Putting these insights and our knowledge of the brand together our technical team recommended using Parallax technology to create a premium, immersive DS environment. One which would allow us to make best use of existing assets (which in turn keeps production costs down) and deliver an interactive experience to the end user, signposting content and allowing them to discover the DS brand at their own pace.

This asset would do a very different job to that of the brand website, which focuses heavily on product, quarterly campaign offers and actions such as test drive bookings. All very relevant and of course important, but very different to telling the story of a brand. Our clients agreed and loved the idea, as did their European head office colleagues.

Our digital asset would allow consumers to discover the brand on their own terms. If they wanted to understand the history and heritage of the brand we would take them there. If they wanted to learn more about the detail and craftsmanship which goes into every vehicle we could bring this to life, or if they were further down their journey and wanted to view models and offers we could redirect them to the brand website.

We would activate the parallax via QR code as well as calls to action on digital and social materials meaning users could access the asset at events, in dealership or via brand advertising. The Parallax environment would be cloned for retailers providing them with their very own retailer personalized asset relevant for local use and ensuring brand and network are 100% aligned. And with everything being digital we’re able to make updates in flight.

 

Results

The beauty of this digital environment is that everything is tagged and can therefore be tracked.

Following launch at the start of Q2, we’re be able to see who has accessed the asset, from what entry point and how they’ve engaged with content over the course of 2023 and beyond. We can report back to the brand team on which areas have seen most engagement and how consumers have continued their journey. Another benefit is that we’re also able to make cost effective in flight updates as the model range changes and new retailers come on board. Something which adds real value to the DS brand.

 

     

 

If you’d like to talk about your brand’s local marketing why not schedule a FREE 30-minute assessment today here? It will be well worth your time.

Or alternatively read more about Local Marketing on our blog page "Local Thinking': https://www.weareacuity.com/local-thinking-our-blog