Background

Polestar, the Swedish electric vehicle manufacturer, was rapidly expanding its dealer network across the Netherlands. New showrooms were opening in cities nationwide, but there was a challenge: how do you build awareness for a showroom in one city while also maintaining broad brand visibility? As this was not a typical brand-building campaign, for which an entirely national approach might have been perfect, but rather a call-to-visit campaign, dentsu Benelux suggested exploring this option together with Ad Alliance: making it more targeted, bringing Polestar the best of both worlds—reach and targeting within the same campaign.

Case description

Ad Alliance deployed its Addressable TV technology to solve Polestar’s regional awareness challenge. The technology works by replacing regular TV commercials with versions tailored to specific household characteristics. Instead of every Dutch household seeing the same Polestar ad, Ad Alliance could serve different versions to different viewers during the same ad break.

Working with Polestar and media agency dentsu Benelux, Ad Alliance developed a two-layered targeting strategy combining geography and income. The campaign specifically targeted households with above-average incomes, matching the profile of potential premium electric vehicle buyers. On top of this, regional targeting ensured viewers saw ads relevant to their nearest showroom location.

The creative execution involved seven versions of the Polestar commercial. Six were regional variants, each featuring an explicit call-to-action mentioning a specific city, for example: “Now also in Beverwijk” (a town in the northern Netherlands). The seventh was a generic version without any location mention, which served households outside the targeted regions to build broad brand awareness.

This dual approach created two distinct effects. The generic commercial kept Polestar visible to a wide audience, while the regional variants moved viewers further down the purchase funnel. The difference was subtle but significant: instead of just building brand awareness, the regional ads gave viewers a concrete next step by telling them exactly where they could test drive a Polestar.

Campaign results

The campaign reached over 551,000 households with above-average income across the Netherlands.

Research comparing the regional versions against the generic variant showed clear differences. Awareness of local test drive locations was 51% higher among viewers who saw the regional version. More importantly, intention to book a test drive was 29% higher compared to those who saw the generic ad.

Polestar reported that regional awareness for their new showrooms was essential to their growth strategy, and that Addressable TV successfully brought these new locations to regional attention. Ad Alliance noted that this campaign demonstrated exactly what the technology was created for: combining the trusted, brand-safe environment and reach of television with the ability to make unprecedented impact at regional and household level. The right message, at the right time, for the right audience, whilst also building the brand Why chose when you can have both?

Source: egta.com

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