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Volvo's being Naughty

Volvo has launched its global Naughty campaign with the launch of the Volvo S60 at the Geneva Motor show this week. To encourage the naughty factor in fast ‘n furious driving of the new car, a Naughty Volvo website will form the platform for various marketing activities and it even has a ‘naughtymeter' - a fun device that lets you choose a level of naughtiness for the car.
Volvo's being Naughty

Twelve short films have been produced at the test-track and visitors to the website can put the car through four different 'tests' and, by using the naughtymeter, decide just how naughty they want the car to be.

The first film shows a slalom test and at level two a red model slips and slides its way along a slalom course marked out with traffic cones - then the question "Want it naughty?" appears on the screen. With each level chosen, both the speed and the thrills rise to new heights. In addition, the same principle is applied to the other three test films: Elk/Moose test, Pedestrian Detection test and Driving Pleasure test.

Genuine stunts

The Volvo team, together with a stunt driver, planned all the various courses and events and after test-driving the car on the track, the stunt driver decided to add even more spice to his stunts.

"Of course we don't encourage anyone else to drive in this way. Instead, what we wanted was to show that the car can handle all this and more thanks to its superb dynamic properties and innovative technical solutions," explains Sven de Smet, campaign development manager.

Visitors' naughtier suggestions

There is also a fourth level on the naughtymeter, which is linked to the question "Not naughty enough? You tell us." Visitors to the website are asked to send in suggestions for what challenges that last level should contain.

"We certainly aren't going to blow up cars or allow any risk of personal injury, but in all other respects there are no holds barred," says Michael Persson director of global marketing communications.

Five finalists' ideas will be chosen from the above suggestions and will be presented on the naughty hub. The public then get to vote for the winner, who will be named at the end of April. The winning idea will then be filmed in Los Angeles in early May 2010.

The campaign will of course also cover the more traditional media as it gets closer to the local launch in South Africa towards the end of 2010, early 2011. In the meanwhile, have some fun on www.volvocars.com/za.

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