In 2009, the Belgian government launched so called ‘ecocheques’. The ecocheques are a tax friendly way of getting a part of your wage and are intended to motivate Belgians to consume more consciously. The problem was you could only pay with those ‘ecocheques’ for products on the ‘eco-friendly list’.
In 2015, Mercedes-Benz launched its first fully electric car: the B-Class Electric Drive. They wanted to introduce it to the Belgian public with limited media budget. Despite being an eco-friendly way of transportation, electric cars were not on the ‘eco-friendly list’.
So with the launch of Mercedes’ first fully electric car in Belgium, we took matters into our own hands. After weeks of negotiating with the Belgian government and the ecocheque suppliers, they accepted to add electric driving to the eco-friendly product list.
Where else could Mercedes-Benz communicate this (eco)logical victory than on the ecocheques themselves? Mercedes-Benz spread the good news by branding the ecocheque envelopes along with the clear message consumers could use the ecocheques at the Mercedes-Benz dealers. This way we turned the newest pay method for electric driving into our medium.
And this was the result.
Despite not being recognized for their eco-friendliness in the past, Mercedes-Benz turned into an eco-trendsetter. They were the first ever car brand to be allowed to accept ecocheques. Since the campaign launch, sales of the B-Class Electric Drive more than doubled.
Creative Credits:
Advertising Agency: BBDO, Belgium