In planning for the introduction of its new SUV, the XC90, Volvo charted a course that flew in the face of conventional wisdom: they eschewed the traditional big-budget ad campaign in favor of a launch spearheaded by Public Relations. As even a casual observer of the car industry now realizes, the results were nothing short of spectacular, and the techniques employed by Volvo now represent a blueprint for other companies seeking new methods for marketing their products and services.

So how, exactly, did Volvo go about executing this innovative, PR-driven product launch?

The company's Public Affairs division began by identifying key journalists and involving them early on in the development process, under embargo. In doing so, Volvo PR started building toward a textbook execution of "tipping point communication." The theory of the tipping point, which has its roots in Complexity Theory and Memetics, is based on the concept that ideas propagate like viruses. Effective "memes" spread through communication and cultural environments, and sometimes reach an awareness threshold - a critical mass, if you will - whereupon they "tip" into the collective consciousness and spread like an epidemic. Constructing programs that can unleash this sort of perceptual virus requires a sharp focus on mobilizing critical opinion leaders and earning their interest in and commitment to the project, a process that stands in sharp contrast to the basic premises of conventional mass communication programs.

Entrusting such an important launch to a radical new methodology didn't come easy to Volvo, an organization steeped in the traditions of mass advertising and the cult of secrecy that historically surrounds new car rollouts. But over the past few years Volvo has committed itself to becoming a leader and change agent in the field of PR, a decision that requires them to keep an open mind about new ideas.

"In 1997, we set out to create a platform that would enable us to become a world-class communications organization," says Roger Ormisher, VP of Public Affairs for Volvo Cars North America, "and we embarked on a benchmarking study to learn from the best in the world" (This study is described separately in this newsletter >>). "Among the many things we learned was how Chrysler had, at the time, redefined its brand by involving PR and opinion leading journalists throughout its car development process."

Volvo took the lessons it learned from Chrysler and crafted a next-generation strategy for generating enthusiasm. "The journalists we had invited into the development process were operating under an embargo," notes Ormisher, "but that didn't stop them from talking informally and off the record to others in and around the industry. In doing so, they helped create a palpable buzz around the elegance and safety of this new Volvo SUV. We involved key influentials early and often - the press, employees, dealers and customers."

Volvo organized a series of press events during the two years leading up to the launch of the XC90, all of which were promoted under the banner of the "Next Generation SUV." The much-anticipated preview of an XC90 prototype at the 2001 Detroit Auto Show kicked off this phase of Volvo PR program. Then, in November of the same year, a select group of writers were invited to preview the car and meet with Volvo's designers, engineers and safety experts, again under embargo.

When the big moment finally arrived - the formal unveiling of the XC90 at the 2002 Auto Show - Volvo's PR organization knew that the event had to live up to the hype it had so meticulously cultivated in the years and months leading up to the launch, and this meant more than staging a dog-and-pony show - they had to identify and deliver a compelling news hook. "Admittedly, we weren't the first company to launch an SUV," says Ormisher, "but it turned out that we had made a 4x4 for the Swedish army in the 1950s, one the world's very first SUVs."

The buzz in Cobo Arena was palpable, said industry observers, and Volvo PR delivered the goods when it yanked the wraps off not one, but two vehicles: a brilliant yellow Volvo "Hogster" - the civilian configuration of the vintage military vehicle - with surfboards mounted on a roof rack and bikes hanging off a carrier in back, and next to it, the brand new XC90.

As big a splash as the Auto Show introduction made, Volvo's tipping point campaign wasn't finished. A few months later, the jury members charged with voting in the coveted North American "Truck of the Year" award were invited to a rollover test at Volvo's safety center in Sweden, and shortly thereafter, the company's CEO personally delivered test vehicles to a couple of the most influential automotive magazines. Later that year, 220 eager journalists finally got to take the new car for a spin.

A primary component of the test drive was the famous "moose test," which simulates a vehicle's ability to avoid unexpected road hazards and demonstrates its all-important lateral stability. "We let the journalists have some fun swerving the SUV around a gigantic stuffed moose," says Ormisher. "Obviously, the faster you can execute the maneuver, the safer the car, and if you run a moose test at 60 mph and don't roll the vehicle, that's pretty impressive. Very few drivers ever encounter anything that extreme in actual driving conditions.

"We ran the moose test at nearly 65 mph and couldn't roll the XC90."

This graphic display not only provided great eye candy for photojournalists and television crews, it illustrated, in incontestable terms, one of the SUV's most important features - the ability to avoid an accident in the first place. This represented a huge win for the Volvo brand, which is intimately associated with safety.

Before a single ad ever ran, Volvo's PR tipping point strategy had generated a massive buzz for its new car, resulting in pre-sales of 7,500 vehicles and several coveted competitive wins: North American Truck of the Year and Motor Trend's "SUV of the Year" awards, plus more than a dozen other accolades in North America alone.

"Nobody knows exactly where the tipping point is for a particular idea," says Ormisher. "It's not the sort of thing that's easily quantified. But I think we demonstrated with the XC90 launch that the tipping point is a real thing and that it can be an incredibly powerful concept around which to build all sorts of campaigns."