Client
Mercedes-Benz
Location
Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain
Sector
Automotive
Region
Europe
Services Provided:
Story
Narrative Development,
Scripting & Messaging,
Voice, Tone, Accessibility & Localization
Filmmaking & Animation
Design
Sound Design
Delivery
Marketing Content
A landmark launch for Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz needed an engaging event to mark the launch of the Mercedes-Benz VLE, the first electric vehicle built on its new Van Electric Architecture (VAN) platform, at the newly modernized plant in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
Founded in 1954, the plant sits at the heart of the Basque Country’s industrial landscape and employs around 5,000 people. Preparing it for VLE production required one of the most extensive transformations in its history, including a new body shop, paint shop and assembly line.
The launch brought together Ola Källenius, Chairman of the Board of Management, Mercedes-Benz Group AG; Spain’s Minister of Industry and Tourism Jordi Hereu, and Basque President Imanol Pradales, as well as investors and plant employees.
It needed a focal moment that reflected the scale of the investment, the significance of the new platform and the ambition surrounding the vehicle.
(Photo by Iñaki Berasaluce/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Challenge
Our challenge was to bring the machinery, industrial processes and, most importantly, the people behind the VLE to life in a way that felt energetic, unexpected and worthy of both the launch and its high-profile audience.
Solution
For the launch, we created an immersive film tailor-made for the ten-meter-wide backdrop screen. Rather than treating it as a conventional cinema frame, we used the display’s scale and proportions as part of the creative, making the film a key feature of the live experience.
The film combined bold imagery, movement and sound to build anticipation around the arrival of the new VLE and give the moment a sense of scale.
We also reversed the traditional production process. A bespoke soundtrack was created first, establishing pace, structure and energy before the visual edit began. The footage was then cut directly to the sound, giving the piece the rhythm and impact of a music video.
“The Vitoria plant, […] turns the Mercedes promise into reality.”
Rather than filling the entire surface, we used the negative space around the content. Images appeared and disappeared across different areas of the screen, continually shifting the audience’s focus.
This movement encouraged people to look across the full width of the display, capturing the energy and dynamism of the production floor while revealing the many stages and technical processes behind a piece of engineering as complex as the VLE.
(Photo by Iñaki Berasaluce/Europa Press via Getty Images)
“It might look like a van, but the Mercedes VLE is an electric MPV that’s refined, useful, stuffed with details and desirable.”
Impact
€1bn+
Invested in transforming the Vitoria plant
World 1st
Plant to manufacture the Mercedes-Benz VLE, the first vehicle built on Mercedes-Benz’s (VAN) platform
150,000+
Vehicles produced annual