Electric vehicles (EVs) are here to stay, yet study after study show most car buyers are still skeptical. Unfamiliar technology, strange language and unfounded fears are slowing adoption.
The audience for the big game is massive, but rather than spend millions of dollars on a commercial promoting just its own electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, the Swedish automaker is using the power of Twitter to provide a public service around EV education. With this campaign, Volvo Cars is uniquely leveraging Twitter’s Randomized Instant Notification technology, which sends a randomized response to people when they ‘like’ a certain Tweet.
The idea is to explain the basics about all EVs, no matter which company makes them, because everyone benefits from learning.
When people ‘like’ Volvo’s call-to-action Tweet (https://volvocars.us/EVasABC), they’ll receive a Randomized Instant Notification featuring one of 26 videos where young kids explain in the simplest of terms how EVs operate and the benefits of owning one. People can then ‘like’ that Tweet to receive another video and so on, until they’ve gone through all 26 videos corresponding to each letter of the alphabet.
Volvo and Twitter have even created a branded emoji that will appear when people Tweet “#EVasABC” to help drive the conversation on the platform.
To excite fans further, some letters will contain an Easter egg leading people to a contest page, www.volvoevcontest.com, where they can nominate a fourth to eighth grade teacher in a U.S. school who is creating a brighter, more sustainable future for the next generation by sharing why they deserve to win a trip to Volvo Headquarters in Sweden for a Volvo EV Experience. Entries will be judged on adherence to the contest theme, persuasiveness of entry, and originality and creativity.* Some aspects of the contest will appear on other social media platforms beyond Twitter. The nominated teacher winner will be announced on Earth Day.
“The idea behind the ‘EV as ABC’ campaign is to get people to listen and learn about electric vehicles in an engaging and fun way,” said Leigh Moynihan, Vice President, Marketing, Volvo Car USA. “Terms like regenerative braking and kilowatt-hours sound complicated but they’re just unfamiliar. We hope that by engaging people on Twitter and getting them familiar with the terminology they’ll be more inclined to try an EV or plug-in hybrid, because our world really does depend on it.”
“Every day, people come to Twitter to connect to their passions, engage in the conversation and learn about the world around them,” said Guy Schueller, Industry Director, Automotive, at Twitter. “The momentum behind the EV conversation is a perfect example of this passion, nearly doubling in the last 12 months and it shows no signs of slowing down. We’re clearly at a tipping point for consumers, so education is now critical to move the conversation — and the industry — forward, and Twitter is the place to do it.”