How Vero helped Mitsubishi Motors Resurrect the Notorious RALLIART

The Brief

Mitsubishi Motors wanted to resurrect its notorious car racing brand, the RALLIART, which had historically won some of the toughest races in the world.

After more than a decade’s hiatus on the world stage, Mitsubishi Motors picked Thailand to be the first country the RALLIART would restart its engine once more!

Mitsubishi Motors trusted us to organize the comeback of the legendary brand at Thailand’s Motor Expo 2021 where top-tier media could witness RALLIART’s return as special edition models.

Execution

Vero supported the press launch of RALLIART by retelling the memorable history of the victorious racing brand as well as recalling Mitsubishi Motors’ special and historical connection with Thailand and appreciation for Thais.

Our feeling was that the models needed to be seen in action, so three legendary models highlighting the past successes of the brand in both the commercial and motorsport world were showcased at the 38th Thailand International Motor Expo 2021. We prepped a Mitsubishi Motors representative to take the audience of the motor expo on a journey of RALLIART, detailing its brand-new product roadmap.

We also coached the CEO to give an interview at the end of the event where a media Q&A session also took place to make sure the DNA and message of RALLIART was heard.  

The Brief

HSI (Humane Society International) is an NGO that promotes the human-animal bond, rescue and protection of animals and wildlife, and works against cruelty to animals in all forms.

Execution

Vero was in charge of helping HSI amplify the campaign in nine SEA countries: Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Brunei. We helped kick off the campaign by publishing the main ‘Save Ralph’ video on social media, followed by the local and regional media pitches and KOL amplifications.

For English-speaking countries like Singapore, Brunei, and the Philippines, Vero pushed out original content from HSI, while in other markets we localized it to varying degrees. As it was a global campaign, HSI needed to make sure all the key messages around the world were unified and consistent, so we followed their content plan.

​For press releases, we had more control over messaging, so we adapted and amended the messaging from their global releases to better fit each region and added relevant data for each country.

HSI conducted KOL engagement in the Vietnamese market only, as they considered it a key influential market, so we had local celebrities dub over the original Save Ralph video and amplify it on social media.

Regionally, HSI collaborated with one of the voice actors, Maggie Q, to create a short message video for which Vero provided direction and guidelines.

Thailand is a market with many local cosmetic brands who chose to promote the HSI campaign to differentiate themselves from international brands that engage in animal testing. Many skincare and cosmetics brands responded, claiming their products are cruelty-free. Animal lovers in Thailand even did extensive research on international cosmetic brands that test their products on animals and called out them on social media

In the Philippines and Malaysia, Vero targeted both males and females from metro and peri-urban cities who have modern lifestyles and are digital natives. They engaged with the ad post well and shared it across their social channels.

The media in the Philippines that picked up the news were from top tiers and have huge readership and subscribers, so the average value of advertisement and PR for those outlets was especially high.

The video caused a stir among the public and generated millions of views across the region, spawning organic conversations which spread on social media and continued to draw engagement for over two months. It hit 56M video views on TikTok and inspired 18 top influencers to voluntarily endorse it. We managed to generate over $2M worth of PR value, with 42% of the coverage by tier 1 media in the region.

The strongest response was in Thailand, with 157 pieces of coverage, followed by Indonesia and Vietnam, with 49 and 42 pieces of coverage respectively.

It even spread to Myanmar, which was not a target market, as some beauty bloggers there followed the lead of those in Thailand to speak out about the issue.

Of the target markets, only Singapore, Thailand, and Malaysia are places where social issues are often publicly discussed and critiqued. Therefore, it was surprising to see that all markets engaged well with the campaign – except Singapore. While people in most markets engaged with the launch video, shared it, and talked about it online, most Singaporeans who watched the launch video did not react, respond, share the content, or engage in conversations on the topic. The cost-per-click for reaching out to people to sign the petition was the highest in Singapore. Thus, we became aware of how difficult it can be to gain the interest of Singaporean consumers when it comes to cause-based marketing.

The Brief

American agricultural products such as dairy, grains, vegetables, and beef, can be considered higher quality, premium options in the Vietnamese market.  

The USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service assigned Vero a mission to create an umbrella brand that would help bring US products together under one master name and convey their superior quality by addressing the negative image traditionally associated with the US Food products. 

Execution

Our creative concept: Introduce a new image of US Agricultural products as high-quality, nutritious, healthy, and delicious. The brand we created, United Tastes, stands as an ambassador for a healthy American diet inspired by the United States’ cultural diversity. It is the home of distinctive yet diverse cuisine from the USA. ​

Sub-text: ” The US has long been known as a “melting pot” of culture. Taking that as an inspiration, we used a salad bowl to represent a nutritious dish with a variety of premium ingredients – a refreshing representation of colors, tastes, and aromas from various ingredients working together harmoniously. 

The ingredients complement one another while retaining their distinct qualities. Similarly, American cuisine is a mixture of the culinary contributions of various cultures from around the world whose culinary worlds coexist while remaining distinctive. ​  

We built the brand’s home on a dedicated website, then brought it to media and stakeholders with a unique launch event at the American Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City, as well as through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and local media. 

The launch event emulated a farmer’s market with US trade representatives showcasing whole, delicious American products for media to try. It also served as a diplomatic venue for the US government and its trade representatives to present the United Tastes project and American agricultural products’ unique attributes.  

We also leveraged the event to launch the brand’s social channels, premiering a Facebook Live cooking show where the American Consul General in Ho Chi Minh city, Mrs. Marie C. Damour, re-visited her childhood dishes with a local chef. 

Post-launch, our teams maintained momentum through dedicated social strategies – engaging with fans, influencers, and student organizations on social platforms and communities to spread the word about United Tastes. Throughout 2021, we also coordinated with US trade cooperators to leverage the new brand as a hub for their messages. Together with Vero, the USDA and their stakeholders have been working on Trello – a co-working space to contribute ideas, co-develop campaigns, and update related projects.​  

We reached end consumers and engaged in conversations with them through ongoing social content, monthly minigames on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, and regular blog posts on the United Tastes website. In addition, we supported other USDA stakeholders with their seasonal promotions through content creation and influencer engagement via United Tastes platforms.