VAUXHALL E-SAFARI
Making electric feel human
Post-COVID, Vauxhall had a problem. They were sitting in 17th place for EV awareness in a market going electric fast. The brief was to reposition with younger, affluent audiences. Make Vauxhall feel credible, forward-thinking, desirable. But this audience doesn’t care about battery life. They care about living the life they want to live.
The insight was simple. Around the UK, people were rediscovering nature. Wild swimming. Foraging. Hiking. Electric vehicles weren't the story, they were the thing that got you there.
Working with The Independent, we built an editorial lifestyle campaign around popular influencers already living the outdoor life. Real stories, real passion. We called it the E-Safari.
I designed a creative and messaging framework that would let each story breathe while still hitting the strategic goals. Dispelling range anxiety, making the tech feel simple, and positioning electric as exciting rather than earnest.
Then I interviewed each influencer. Long conversations about foraging and wild swimming. Not your typical car brief, but fascinating. Just listening for the truth beneath the surface. What drives them, how the outdoors shapes their day, where electric fits naturally into the rhythm of their life.
From those interviews, I built the film scripts and story frameworks. Six distinct narratives using their actual language and phrasing, the way they talked about their passion, the little stories and details that brought them to life. It ensured everything felt genuine, real and fun. The kind of thing people could actually connect with.
The campaign rolled out as a full platform across The Independent Lifestyle section with films, features, and multimedia content. Not ‘here's an electric car’, more ‘here's a life, and the electric car that enables it.’ The car showed up naturally. And the lifestyle sold it.
Six stories, six films, over a million views. We didn't sell electric vehicles, we sold the life you could lead with one.