Škoda Auto has kicked off a prelaunch campaign for its Yeti SUV that blurs traditional marketing definitions with unconventional tactics such as painting sidewalks and nationwide geocaching, or treasure hunting. It is not yet clear whether this campaign will be seen more as a new example of guerilla advertising tactics or as a countrywide showcase for a white stuffed gorilla called the Yeti. But if beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so it goes with marketing campaigns. As long as it creates a buzz about the new SUV and connects to potential car buyers, Škoda is not going to quibble over the difference of a few letters. “We just want to introduce a new car,” Škoda spokesman Jaroslav Černý explains. “This SUV segment is growing and we want part of it.”
MujYeti.cz is the nationwide hunt for the mythical snow monster and the SUV that bears the same name. “Catch Yeti before it catches you,” the tag line reads in Czech. The campaign started in an unusual way. During three days in early July, teams fanned out across the country, putting stickers and painting information about the campaign on thousands of sidewalks. Lured by this tag line, visible on sidewalks and in more traditional print advertisements, participants register via MujYeti.cz or their mobile phones for a national hunt for the creature.
The Škoda teams made sure that there was plenty of evidence that the Yeti has been traipsing around the Czech Republic. There are footprints – actually, plaques with serial numbers attached – located in 80 locations around the country. Some of the footprints are in the expected places: near the Škoda Auto Museum in Mladá Boleslav, for example. Others are in more remote corners of the country such as Moravský Krumlov, a town better known for the Slovak Epoch painting by Alfons Mucha.
The search is geocaching on a national scale. Detailed information about Yeti footprints and the global positioning system coordinates are posted on the internet. In addition to the GPS data, the site also has tourist information about the specific location of the footprints as well as nearby sights. Participants make pencil rubbings of the raised ID numbers on their competition sheets and send them in SMS messages as evidence that they have actually found the Yeti footprints. If they find the footprints, they also just might find the creature nearby – albeit a stuffed version – or other Škoda Yeti paraphernalia such as T-shirts or hats. Those who find at least three Yeti footprints around the country have a chance to win the use of the SUV during the winter. That’s the grand prize. But, even without winning the car, participants win by touring new sites around the country.
By early August, more than 4,000 people had registered for the contest and the most active participant had located nearly 70 footprints.
Heading into uncharted, if bumpy, terrain
MujYeti.cz is considered Škoda’s first guerilla marketing campaign, putting the automaker in new territory ahead of its traditional print and TV advertisements. But the emphasis is on co-ordinating – not replacing – other marketing media. “It’s a mix of classic media and the guerilla campaign with the link to the contest,” said Jana Skočdopolová, of the company’s communications department. “We have the TV, radio, print, screens, internet and outdoor and indoor [elements to the] campaign.” Škoda still kept most of its regular support team for the Yeti hunt. “I think that this campaign shows the great co-operation within the Škoda team: Škoda Auto, MediaCom Praha, and Leagas Delaney Praha,” she said.
The MujYeti prelaunch campaign was prepared only for the Czech market, but Škoda has said that elements of the campaign could be extended to other countries. Registration is limited to residents of the Czech Republic, and information is posted only in Czech. The campaign was rolled out on 1 July, ahead of the official mid-July start of sales. The active part of the competition ends on 20 August, with the drawing for the grand prize scheduled for end September.
The Škoda Yeti is heading into an incredibly bumpy and unpredictable European market environment. After 14 straight months of decline, June was the first time that new passenger car sales increased, according to ACEA, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association. Total car sales were up 2.4% to 1.46 million units. Overall, new car sales in Europe were down 11% for the first half of 2009, to about 7.4 million units. Take away the one-time impact from scrapping incentives for old automobiles, and the market looks even worse. About the only bright spots in the European car sector were in countries such as Germany or Slovakia that give buyers a financial boost for trading in their old clunkers for something new. The Czech market for new cars (both passenger and light commercial vehicles) was down by around 12,000 units to 92,100 by midyear.
‘Sweating blood’
With new car sales down, Škoda has good reason to be nervous – and creative. And after all, an SUV named after a mythical snow creature from the Himalayas, but designed and manufactured in the Czech Republic, might be expected to break a few established precedents. Guerilla campaigns try to pique interest and draw consumers in new ways in the pursuit of marketing buzz. From the perspective of customer involvement, Dan Farkaš, evangelist at the Outbreak word-of-mouth marketing consultancy, says the campaign is a positive step for the automaker. “Talking about the whole mix, I think it is a fine effort to create a campaign trying not to just address the potential customers but to engage them,” he said. “Which is a nice shift from usual campaigns.”
When it comes to MujYeti, this engagement means multistream communication. Not only do participants go look at the internet site and specific outdoor locations, they actively communicate with each other, offering directions and comments about the elusive Yeti and their quest to find his traces. “Let me tell you, I was sweating blood,” wrote one participant. Another, pepa10, remembered the greenery at the Loučeň chateau: “Some nettles there, but that code is mine!!!!”
The competition has more in common with an orienteering run than a head-to-head battle. Rycmond, one of the most active participants, still had time to offer advice: “Yesterday afternoon, the tracks weren’t there. Workers repairing a wall said that somebody stole it and it had been there on 14.7.2009.”
Communication isn’t all positive. Participants are vocal over inaccuracies and problems in the campaign’s electronic infrastructure. “The system for reporting damaged codes is not working,” wrote Rycmond in a separate posting. With more than 50 footprints collected by end July, Rycmond was the top Yeti hunter.
Collateral Damage
Most guerilla marketing attacks come with a question mark: Is it legal? MujYeti.cz is no exception. Some campaigns of a similar type have been in breach of the law because they are seen as hidden advertising, pointed out Jana Pattynová, a lawyer at Pierstone, a boutique law firm in Prague. These carry a potential financial penalty of up to CZK 2 million for the advertising company and the marketing agency, as well as the distributor. Campaigns that are compliant with the law must openly declare that they constitute advertising. This carries its own penalty. “This makes them usually less attractive and therefore less efficient,” Pattynová added.
Škoda is certainly not hiding its connection to the MujYeti campaign. Visitors to the site are invited to configure their dream machines. But there still is a question about painting the tag line on sidewalks. Does it communicate and is it legal?
“Using sidewalk painting together with ‘Yeti footprints’ is an interesting idea which can work and is still unusual in our country, so it can get attention,” Outbreak’s Farkaš said. “Unfortunately, the body copy that goes with it is too much ‘advertising’ and less ‘teasing’ than would be appropriate.”
Could painting the message result in collateral damage? “It exposes the advertiser to liability if any damage is caused to property as a result of the campaign,” Pattynová said. And then there are the problems of assessing the value of a clean sidewalk, as the price tag for a criminal offense starts at CZK 5,000, and determining who was the offending party: the sprayer or the sponsoring company. “It is very difficult to attribute this liability to the campaign source,” Pattynová added.
Friendly SUV looking for a similar owner
Škoda has repeatedly described the Yeti as a friendly, nonaggressive SUV. From my own test drive experience in similar vehicles that is a good move. Czech SUV sales are handicapped by the reputation of the drivers of such machines as pushy and arrogant. Pedestrians really do hesitate to step into the street near a moving SUV.
The MujYeti campaign aims at a different group, with the website featuring young people with children. The target audience is the young, outdoorsy and adventuresome, yet technologically competent to tap the internet, use GPS and Twitter away. “The Yeti is the most unusual type of car for Škoda as it’s reaching into the SUV segment,” Farkaš said. “I think this geocaching concept communicates well the more adventurous nature of the product.”
Those unable to see the Yeti in the wild can now take the next best alternative: visit the zoo. Škoda will display its Yetius Mobilius at 10 zoos across the country. There people can decide for themselves if this is a friendly Yeti or a new variation on the Abominable Automobile.
Yeti on two legs
The legendary Yeti or Abominable Snowman is more a creation of modern media than the Himalayas of its origins. The name is derived from Tibetan, but the modern creature burst into pop culture during the 1950s. European explorers such as Edmund Hillary reported seeing footprints from a mysterious creature during their attempts to scale the mountains in the region.
Yeti sightings in films and books have become commonplace in the last 50 years. One of the more memorable appearances was in the TinTin in Tibet comic. Yeti can also be seen at Disney theme parks.
Yeti on four wheels
The Škoda design study for the Yeti first appeared at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. A warm-weather variant surfaced a year later with an open-sky, three-stage top developed with Karmann.
Today’s Yeti is a midsize SUV, measuring just over 422cm long and weighing in at 2,065kg. The Yeti is available in two-wheel and all-wheel drive. The car comes with the VarioFlex rear seating that Škoda developed for its Roomster minivan: detachable seats for one, two, or three passengers. The car is made on a dedicated assembly line at Škoda’s Kvasiny plant, alongside the large Superb and the Roomster. The price for the new Yeti starts at CZK 386,000 (EUR 15,000).
