Helping Bentley Motors reestablish the luxury automotive marque
The Challenge
Founded in 1919 Bentley Motors are one of the world’s most prestigious luxury automotive brands. Following its purchase from Rolls-Royce by the Volkswagen Group in 1998 the Bentley brand was able to stretch its wings again and in 2003 started production of the new Continental GT – the world’s first 4-door supercar. Demand was so great that the factory in Crewe was unable to keep up with orders despite the workforce increasing from 1,500 to over 4,000.
Many of the workforce had been with the old Rolls-Royce business for many years and whilst the expansion and product transformation had moved quickly, re-educating staff and customers as to the new vision and values of the business had lagged behind. The Liquid Way were appointed by Bentley in 2005 to inspire the staff associates to ‘live the brand’ as well as attract potential customers to the newly revitalized marque.
The Liquid Way
We created a fully integrated multi-level solution.
Our engagement campaign theme ‘Power in your hands’ encouraged the workforce that the power to affect the future success of Bentley Motors lay firmly in their hands. It recognised their skill and dedication whilst stressing the importance of their engagement with the new brand vision and values.
To convey the message we created a corporate film using a split-screen technique to emphasise the direct connection between the activity of Bentley associates and the customer experience.
The campaign was launched via a three-day event communicating the inspiring message to all Bentley’s 4,000 UK staff and dealers, with physical take-aways in both video and print.
Liquid Results
The work was so successful that The Liquid Way were commissioned to develop further online brand training tools, create staff engagement events for the following 2 years and produce senior manager training days. The ‘Power in your hands’ brand film continues to be used as part of staff induction and displayed in-showroom and online globally.
