Be More Than A Number
Measuring range in moments not miles.
The Lynk & Co 08 can go very far. Far enough that you’ll run out of Rick Rubin’s Tetragrammaton back catalogue before it runs out of metaphorical steam. In a category obsessed with declaring stats across salt flats, we set out to talk about something more radical: how it feels.
Fresh off launching the 01 with WONDER.FULL, we were now introducing its older sibling. A little more refined. A little more exquisite. A little more “bring out the grown-up plates”. Same party, better wine.
In a category hooked on pairing range with escape, our research told us something different: people aren’t desperate to escape their everyday lives, in fact they quite like them. What they want is a car that keeps up, a vehicle that doesn’t interrupt the rhythm of life with low-battery panic. Less range anxiety. More range confidence.
The team landed on Limit Less - a car that can keep up limits you less. Nice. Two words. Big idea. Channel-agnostic. Digital to Dealership.
Visually, we wanted to ditch the typical highway to nowhere and instead, we created “The Flow,” a collage technique where life moves seamlessly. A continuous rhythm. The 08 doesn’t take you away from life; it helps paint the rich tapestry.
Director Pau Dalmases and the CANADA gang assembled a team that brought calm, finesse and rubber chickens. We shot over three days in and around Barcelona, blazing sun to biblical thunderstorms. Real life, basically. Editor Carlos Font then stitched it together like a jigsaw puzzle inside a jigsaw puzzle masquerading as a Russian Doll.
The result is the kind of effortless flow that only comes from heroic effort. After the dust had settled Cameron Fraser, Head of Brand Creative at Lynk & Co and I pretended to have a chat by a log fire:
Hi Cameron, come way from the hearth, I don’t want you to get chill blains. That’s better, maybe a little too close. Automotive marketing is obsessed with perfection. We deliberately fragmented the product. How difficult was it to get comfortable with breaking up the car?
Cameron: In any business when you start to mess with the final product you will obviously ruffle some feathers. Our brand has a heritage of looking at how to approach opportunities with a point of difference, so for me, I felt this was one of those opportunities. There is always fear when you take a risk. Especially in communications. But the first time we saw it all line up, we knew the risk was worth it. And that is testament to the partners we chose to work with.
When did you first think, “Okay, we might be onto something here”?
Cameron: When I first saw a reference on how what we called the “collage effect” could work. That’s when I saw the piece come to life in my mind.
If this had gone wrong, what would have gone wrong?
Cameron: Wow, interesting question. To be honest I believe that other than some terrible production nightmare or an act of nature, basically things that are out of your control, you stop what can go wrong early in the process. By having the hard conversations, pushing yourself and your creative and production partners, you iron out those challenges you might face and then turn them into opportunities. If it had gone wrong it would have gone wrong there, and then we would have fixed it. Together.
This project took a shedload of pre planning. What didn’t we plan for?
Cameron: A broken hydraulic ramp and some lightning.
Post Production was an intense editing process. What was the process like internally.
Cameron: It was actually really good. We set up expectations from the beginning that we are not doing post production by committee. There was a trust and belief that we had built up from the previous piece of work that allowed us as the core team to make decisions all the way up to the final product. We obviously made the necessary checks along the way. But It felt really smooth and enjoyable to me.
From your perspective, what makes a creative partnership not just function, but thrive?
Cam: Conversation, understanding, trust. That runs both ways. Trust that the partners you have chosen know what they are doing until they prove otherwise, they are the professionals in the space, so let them do what they do best. Your partners need to trust that you are making the best decision from the lens of the business. It’s what you do, you live and breathe it. If you can understand that and respect that then you create the space to have the conversations in the difficult moments when you both maybe feel you are not being heard. And then you find the best solution.
What took longer than expected on set.
Cameron: One of my toilet breaks.
In a category obsessed with range, we chose rhythm. The Lynk & Co 08 isn’t here to help you escape reality via a cinematic road to nowhere. It’s here to keep you moving through the reality of school runs and side quests without missing a beat.