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← Back to Ideas100 years of Aral: Ogilvy and Aral celebrate anniversary with new edition of the iconic "Walking" commercial
Frankfurt, 20 March 2024 – To mark Aral’s one hundredth birthday, Ogilvy and the iconic brand are launching the anniversary campaign “100 Years of Aral.” The heart of the campaign is the new edition of the iconic “Walking” commercial with a cover of the classic song “I’m Walkin’” by Fats Domino. Looking back to the past, but above all looking forward, the campaign aims to emphasize the relevance of Aral for the people of Germany. The message: Aral is more than just a petrol station – it has been making mobility easy for a hundred years and making everyday life easier for customers with its one-stop shopping experience.
Campaign relies on nostalgia
Ogilvy and Aral are bringing the “Walking” commercial from 1992 back to the screens in a much more modern version. In the classic, a lone man, whose car has broken down, walks for miles along country roads with an Aral gas can in his hand – spurns the competitor’s fuel and continues on his way until he reaches the Aral station. The current commercial, on the other hand, shows a large number of people going the extra mile for Aral for a wide variety of reasons – be it fresh coffee, shopping in the REWE To Go store or charging their electric car with Aral Pulse. “Over the last hundred years, we have evolved from a fuel provider to a mobility provider. We now offer our customers much more: ultra-fast charging stations, modern REWE To Go grocery stores and digital services. Our commercial picks up on this by emotionally connecting the past and present in the here and now,” says Marc Bertelsbeck, Brand & Communication Manager Germany at Aral.
The advertising faces in the commercial also evoke nostalgia and emotion. In addition to the current Aral faces Hilde and Kalle, there are also characters from past commercials. Viewers meet the “Headbangers” again as they now charge their electric car. And those who are well versed in Aral’s advertising history will also discover an old driving school car – a VW Golf II, which can also be found at the filling station to celebrate Aral’s one hundredth birthday. "The new edition of the advertising classic plays with various elements of past commercials and brings them into the modern Aral station. In this way, we creatively show Aral’s transformation over the years into a feel-good place for everyone and reach the various target groups precisely," explains Sebastian Hainbach, Client Service Director at Ogilvy.
Multichannel campaign runs until the end of the year
The commercial will be shown on linear TV, connected TV, online, on social media and at the Point of Sale from the start of the campaign on 19 March, 2024. Aral customers can also look forward to a 100-year promotion with more than 100,000 prizes at all Aral stations in Germany from 8 April. Additional short commercials for individual Aral brands – such as REWE To Go – will be shown online and on social media. Numerous measures on Instagram and Facebook will accompany the campaign.
The target group is just as broad as Aral’s offer. The anniversary campaign is aimed at car and e-car drivers and, with the non-fuel business, at all consumers in Germany – even those without a vehicle.
On Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/925092082?share=copy
The creators
Aral
Philipp Traeder, Head of Marketing
Anabela Silva, BP Communications & Campaigns Manager Europe
Marc Bertelsbeck, Brand & Communication Manager Germany
Nicole von Weers, Brand & Communication Lead
Hannah Wemhöner, Project Management
Ogilvy
Strategy: Leonie Schüssler; Creation: Benjamin Bosch, Julia Dettki, Julia Frolov, Holger Gaubatz, Lars Huvart, Tim Nockemann, Ute Sonntag, Anna Teske, Andreas Walter; Consulting: Sebastian Hainbach, Esther Skowronek; Production: Tanja Frohwerk, Nathalie Hergenhahn, Simone Kliesch
Production: Markenfilm Crossing
Director: Mario Feil
Photography: Sven Görlich
Music
Production: MOKOH Music (Stephan Moritz, Jens Schneider, Jules Kalmbacher); Supervision: henanX (Henan Wensink)
Corporate Design: GSVI™ Gregor & Strozik Visual Identity
POS Production: Wegener & Partner / PSS Marketing
Social Media: Ray Sono
Media: Mindshare
Ogilvy press office:
Ogilvy GmbH, Darmstädter Landstraße 112, 60598 Frankfurt
Telefon: 069 9622 500 23 | presse@ogilvy.com | LinkedIn: Ogilvy Group Germany