Beyond the Brief: How DDB Sydney turned nostalgia into electric joy for Volkswagen

In this edition of CB’s Beyond the Brief, DDB Sydney creative directors Samuel Raftl and Tom Lawrence take us behind Volkswagen’s latest EV campaign ‘Batteries Included’, showing how childhood nostalgia, wide-open shots, and Patsy Biscoe’s timeless voice combine to make electric driving feel like playtime again.

Can you talk us through the brief, what did Volkswagen set out to achieve with this campaign?

Samuel Raftl: It was the first Volkswagen brand brief since we launched the “Let’s go for a drive” platform a year earlier, which was an invitation to rediscover the simple joy and emotional connection to driving. Our mates Steve Hey and Simon Koay wrote a film about a lighthouse keeper on a small island who finds enjoyment in driving a Volkswagen when he clearly doesn’t need to drive at all. The new brief was to build on this platform through the lens of three new electric vehicles: the ID. 4 Pro, the ID. 5 GTX and the iconic ID. Buzz. With such slow uptake of electric vehicles in Australia, we needed to sell Volkswagen while also doing a category job in selling EVs in general.

What inspired you to tell a nostalgic inner child story, and how did that idea take shape creatively?

Tom Lawrence: Compared to a petrol car, an EV is an exceptionally simple machine. The ID. vehicles even have “pause” and “play” labels on the brake and accelerator. The moment you push your foot down, you just go, it’s like child’s play. The enjoyment that comes from the first time you accelerate is written all over your face.

With this in mind, we had this “batteries included” piece of language we loved because it harked back to the moment you opened that present as a kid and your excitement was put on hold as your parents scrambled to find batteries to power it. From here, we wrote a number of scripts and landed on this idea of a simple series of cinemographs that present our ID range in the places your inner child would want to drive to.

SR: The nostalgia was upped through music, sound and set design. We created places that appeared as they do in our memories, slightly enhanced or elevated. Were there really that many waterslides? Was the balloon shop actually a balloon shop or was it just a place that sold balloons?

What was the motivation behind shooting the entire spot in wide shots?

TL: The camera remains wide and still so our imagination can run wild. The aim was to find a sophisticated and uniquely Volkswagen approach to joy, not smiling faces and happy families, but instead capturing these moments with intelligence and restraint so our viewers have the opportunity to paint themselves into the picture.

SR: We are lucky to have a brave client who bought into our vision to buck the trend of needing to show all the bells and whistles of the car’s interiors, and just give the work the chance to breathe. They understood this approach would help audiences better connect with the idea and feel more from the work. And like the great Volkswagen ads we all know and love, we wanted to afford people the space to just observe, so they could work just that little bit to bring it all together.

The film showcases a series of nostalgic childhood locations, from a dino-themed putt putt to a fireworks factory, water park, and pizza joint. Where did you shoot, and how did you find such a varied range of settings?

SR: Goulburn and its surrounds became our home for a few days. It allowed us to capture a nice cross-section of urban and regional Australia. It was quite an amusing process – turning up at a boring old architecture firm or recruitment centre, turning it into something awesome like a drum store or fireworks factory, shooting it from one angle, then turning it back to its regular self and moving on to the next one. Unfortunately, we did disappoint a couple of locals who were devastated to find out they weren’t actually getting a new all-you-can-eat pizza shop. We also picked off a couple of locations on the outskirts of Sydney, like the water park and beach side carnival.

What was it like working with Christopher Riggert on this one? How did he help bring the story to life?

TL: Chris is a true gentleman and a great collaborator. On paper, it’s an ad about parked cars, and we knew a script as delicate as this in the wrong hands could have been wallpaper. Luckily, he’s a great emotional storyteller and master of his craft. His builds to the script and approach to the photography and production design were perfect. He’s also just a delight to sit with in a dark room and talk about good fishing spots or how pink a balloon store should be.

The film is set to the backdrop of Patsy Biscoe’s ‘When I grow up’. How much did music play a role in the work?

SR: This was the first time we’ve ever shot a piece of work that wasn’t on air for a few months. This afforded us extra time to really dive deep into music. I’m sure Level Two hated us by the end of the process, as we probably laid up a thousand tracks, but the first time we heard Biscoe’s voice, everything changed. There’s a real watch-out when choosing tracks that are so conceptually aligned to the work, but something felt different about “When I Grow Up”: her soft voice, the rich emotion, the Australian accent, the space it gave us for sound design. We were in love.

How has the campaign been received so far? Any early signs it’s connecting with audiences the way you hoped?

SR: It’s early days but so far so good. It’s much loved within the Volkswagen group globally and we’re yet to hear anything too scathing on our shores. My mother Joanne loves it so that’s always a good indicator.

How does this campaign evolve the Volkswagen brand while staying true to its heritage?

SR: There’s an intelligence to classic Volkswagen advertising. You feel something, then walk away with a smile. There’s always a little loop to close, something for you to get, and you can’t help but feel a little chuffed when you get it. It’s what we’ve tried to hang on to with this work. These moving portraits make you feel something, then the tagline gives you that little smile as it plants the ad firmly into the EV category.

The campaign ends with a great question, “When was the last time you let your inner child drive?” Did working on this campaign unlock any core memories from your own childhood?

TL: All of the locations were based on places that meant something to us as kids. Little details like the “all you can eat” sign on the pizza joint or the mini golf’s dinosaur theme are things that stick with you. Chris described our collection of locations as all the places your parents drove past when you were on a family road trip, and now you’re allowed to stop at all of them. What a joy it was to bring them back to life.

DDB Sydney
Matt Chandler: Chief Creative Officer
Jenny Mak: Creative Partner
Sam Raftl: Creative Director
Tom Lawrence: Creative Director
Michael Sinclair: Head of Brand Performance
Laura Oleart: Integrated Producer
Nick Russo: Managing Partner
James Llewelyn-Davies: Group Business Director
Jemma Western: Business Director
Britt Wilcock: Senior Business Manager

Production Company – Finch
Director – Christopher Riggert
Managing Director – Corey Esse
Executive Producer – Nick Simkins
Producer – Caroline David
Casting – Felicity Byrne

Post House – The Editors
Executive Producer – Rita Gagliardi
Editor – Jack Hutchings
Colourist – Fergus Rotherham

Music Supervision: Level Two Music

Sound Post Production: Sonar Music 
Senior Sound Designer: Andy Stewart 
Head of Production: Haylee Poppi 

Client:
Volkswagen Australia
Bianca Botma: Head of Marketing & Brand – Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles
Piergiorgio Minto: Director – Volkswagen Passenger Vehicles
Nathan Johnson: Director – Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (former Passenger)