For the new National Car Rental marketing campaign, we built an idea around the hallmarks of the National Car Rental brand: speed, choice, and control. Thus, the “Control Enthusiast” was created to represent our target audience: the experienced business customer who knows what they want and how to get it. We chose TV and movie star Patrick Warburton to be the face of the campaign, and created three television commercials featuring him both in and out of the office. We supplemented these ads with short online vignettes, “The Control Enthusiast’s Guide to Life,” in which the Control Enthusiast imparted his wisdom to viewers on a variety of topics, including fatherhood, facial hair, and golfing. Finally, we created social media content focused on the Control Enthusiast and worked with travel bloggers and influencers to cross-promote the campaign. All of this content was then repurposed on the Control Enthusiast Tumblr page.
My role in the campaign included concepting the character, outlining the campaign strategy, and both reviewing and assisting scripts for the three TV ads. Additionally, I conceived themes for the short “Control Enthusiast’s Guide to Life” videos, as well as wrote all supporting copy on digital channels.
I personally collaborated with Mr. Warburton multiple times throughout the campaign, assisting him for a “Control Enthusiast” Twitter chat, community outreach events, and co-writing scripts. Lastly, I brainstormed ideas and wrote all copy for the Control Enthusiast-themed social content that we ran throughout the year on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+, and Tumblr.
The campaign was a massive success for National Car Rental, winning new fans and receiving national media coverage. Today, the campaign lives on a decade later, with the Control Enthusiast recently returning for new campaign content long after my departure.
Media coverage:
Adweek, Brand of the Day
Links:
The Control Enthusiast’s Guide to Life homepage
The National Control Enthusiast’s Guide to Life short videos (Youtube)
Stephen Graveman 