Fiat’s ‘No More Grey’: The anatomy of a campaign
Sookio Bootcamp 2023 graduate - and self-confessed Fiat fan - Lucy Kingsford analyses the Fiat ‘No More Grey’ campaign, which took an innovative, colourful approach to automotive marketing by dunking their CEO in 10,000 litres of orange paint.
From the cute and nimble 500 adored by first-time drivers worldwide to the practical Panda and Tipo, love them or hate them, Fiats are everywhere. However, we are now to see fewer grey Fiats on our roads with the launch of Operation No Grey - which sees the celebrated car manufacturer stopping production of the staple colour.
A seasoned Fiat lover myself and owner of ‘Fiat 500 girls U.K’ on Facebook, a group with 12K members, I investigate how well the campaign performed.
The thinking behind the Fiat No More Grey campaign
Launched June 2023 and curated by Leo Burnett Italia, the campaign aims to draw Fiat back to its Italian roots with CEO Olivier Francois detailing how Italy is composed of “joy, optimism, love, passion and life.”
Whilst strolling through the vibrant town of Lerici he proclaims, “What has grey got to do with all that? Nothing!” before proceeding to enter the new 600E. He is then lifted above a giant vat of orange paint. Still seated in the car, Francois is dunked inside before the ad closes with the key slogan ‘Italy, the land of colours, Fiat, the brand of colours’, alongside an updated colourful logo.
As explained by Francesco Martini of Leo Burnett, Fiat “wants to talk about people’s real lives…it’s a promise of joy and they want to communicate it in every single piece of work.”
The operation involves ensuring that all of Fiat’s fleet has character, colour and brings life to the vehicle owner.
How much engagement did the Fiat campaign generate?
Operation No Grey garnered millions of views across various channels including:
YouTube
Main campaign video 10M views, 3.9k likes
Behind-the-scenes video 213k views, 321 likes
218k views, 6700 likes
Additional teaser posts amassed an incredible 425k views and 14k likes collectively
31.5k views, 36 likes
1.3k likes, 260 reposts
The main video reached an extensive audience with all the behind-the-scenes sneak peaks adding a personal touch for viewers.
A few of these videos were unique to Instagram only, taking advantage of the easy Reels upload tool. These down-to-earth backstage clips are what I feel have really made this campaign memorable to the general public.
Which agency was behind the Fiat No More Grey campaign?
The campaign was headed by the agency Leo Burnett Italia, also known for curating several of McDonald’s colour-popping ads and heartfelt pieces for Clearblue pregnancy.
Head of Strategy Alessandro Mese explained in an interview with The Drum how he felt that they could leverage thoughts of Italy being full of colourful houses and blue skies and not being the colour grey.
The result was a Hollywood-style production showcasing a crane purpose-built to hold the weight of 10 cars to guarantee the Fiat CEO’s safety. System 1 research found that 90% of viewers were able to recall the brand of car after their first viewing of the ad, showing that the video was bold and memorable.
Which are Fiat’s most memorable advertising campaigns?
Fiat is known for its quirky advertisements with a couple of my personal favourites being ‘The Motherhood’ and ‘Tested for bad boys’. The Motherhood features a British mother rapping about the sometimes draining reality of parenting. It is uncannily accurate yet amusing and relatable with the ability to get stuck in your head for days. Created by Krow London, The YouTube video amassed 4.9M views, 191 pre-orders for the new 500L and a hefty £2.5M of revenue.
‘Tested for the bad boys’ has bizarrely disappeared from Fiat’s archive. The comedic commercial showed 2016’s 500S being handbag hit tested and kicked inside a laboratory. I’ll assume that the ad was removed due to perhaps being a bit sexist and condoning abuse as the extended version showed multiple women hitting their partners. But with any trace of it being eliminated on Fiat’s own pages and minimal agency write-ups; I guess we shall never really know. The 2 reposted videos have gathered 2.5M views on YouTube.
Operation No Grey is a far cleaner finish than previous campaign videos but with less humour compared to previous top hits.
What was the reaction to Fiat No More Grey?
#OperationNoGrey acquired some mixed personal reviews with professional reviews being overwhelmingly positive. One commenter noted that to him ‘grey is a discreet and elegant colour’ and goes on to mention the habits of users ‘who are linked to the chromatic elements of their car’ before comparing their vehicle to ‘wearing a dress or a shoe’.
Some members of my Fiat 500 owners group branded the advert ‘weird’ whilst others posted about how much they love their grey cars and that their value may go up. Others in the YouTube comments exclaimed, ‘I’m so happy Fiat have made it their mission to develop cars that inspire fun’ and ‘at least one automaker in this world cares about their cars having character’.
I personally found the main video a bit slow-moving. The opportunity to really capture the vibrancy of Italy felt lost with the background being so still, especially at the point where the car was dipped into the paint. I do however really love Fiat’s initiative here. With the UK’s signature overcast skies and dreary, grey weather I feel Fiat is right. The world doesn’t need another grey car.
5 ideas to inspire marketers and brands from Fiat’s Operation No Grey campaign
Add that personal touch for your customers with behind-the-scenes content across your social media channels. Check out Fiat’s Instagram for some ideas! These do not need to even be staged. Just capture what’s going on in the moment.
Stay true to your brand no matter how quirky - or in Fiat’s case with this campaign - mildly controversial. Let your brand’s personality shine through in your content.
Sprinkle some colour into your videos to help them pop within the jungle of Instagram reels and TikToks!
Add in a clear slogan portraying what your brand is all about, like ‘Italy, the land of colours. Fiat, the brand of colours’.
If your budget allows for it, try a head-turning stunt that’ll stop viewers scrolling past. Perhaps not being dunked into a giant vat of paint, but you get the gist!
Does your marketing need a colourful makeover?
Contact Sookio to give your strategy a fresh lick of paint!
This piece was written by one of the students on 2023’s Sookio Bootcamp, a week of remote work experience for aspiring marketers. Have a read of related campaign analysis posts on Nike, Iceland and British Airways.