By Robert Klara
Can an automotive ad that doesn’t mention or show any cars turn buyers on to the idea of dropping up to $80,000 on an electric vehicle?
That’s one of several questions raised by the debut of a new Volvo ad that recently aired in Saudi Arabia. Produced by Dubai-based Lion Creative for Volvo’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Division and Electromin, the automaker’s Saudi distributor, the spot is notable not only for the creative risk it takes, but for the machinations behind it.
The spot is the first ad for Volvo created solely with artificial intelligence.
Which, frankly, isn’t hard to guess. In its 44 seconds, the ad floats through a visually dazzling landscape of beautiful scenery and the beautiful people inhabiting it: runners dashing through a desert at sunset; a crowd of cheering women; a slo-mo dip in the pool; and a striking young man gazing from under a red keffiyeh.
Lion used gen-AI program MidJourney to create the visuals, finishing the effect with Runway production software. As for the narrated script, while a human mind originated the copy, ChatGPT played a central role in its stirring tenor. (Tidbit: “They say some dreams are too ambitious, but we’ve never believed in limits. Challenges didn’t hold us back. They pushed us forward.”)
To a western eye, it can be a challenge to see how this interplay of rhetoric and images might speak to an American car buyer – but of course, that’s not the target audience here. Narrated in Arabic (though there is an English version), the ad is a mélange of “technically accurate and culturally resonant renders for Saudi Arabia,” Lion’s founder and executive creative director Osama Saddiq told ADWEEK.
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“AI today is rarely humanized – most executions are tactical, with little focus on brand storytelling,” he continued. “Our approach was different. We started by crafting a narrative that strategically aligned with Volvo’s comeback in the region.”
The ad is the centerpiece of a campaign called “Come Back Stronger.” Volvo had minimized its presence in the Kingdom in recent years, but with its new lineup of all-electric and plug-in-hybrid SUVs, the automaker is clearly bidding for top place in e-mobility. On February 27th, Electromin cut the ribbon on its first “New Energy Vehicle” showroom in Riyadh. The distributor has pledged to open more of them around the nation.
In a statement to ADWEEK, Volvo’s regional business manager John Duggan called the ad a “powerful statement” and the “foundation from which we build our brand story and success in the Kingdom.”
Volvo Group did €46 billion in sales for 2024, which begs the question of why it opted to use AI to create such an important ad. For cost savings? To look like a technology leader? In an earlier statement to the media, Lion said that using AI “slashed production timelines, turning months into weeks.”
Another key question is why this ad for vehicles doesn’t show a single vehicle in it.
“This was a tough decision,” said Saddiq, who explained that because the aim was “to tell a deeply human story through the voices of Saudi locals… showing the car would have distracted from the narrative.”
Consultant and digital strategist Shane Barker suggested that the ad’s prominent featuring of women – who’ve only been permitted to drive in the Kingdom since 2018 – is part of a broader message of unity and a future focus.
“It feels like they’re trying to bring the community together through EVs and change,” Barker said. “The messaging is that everything’s possible. We’re moving forward, let’s do this together.”
Lion’s work is also likely to add to the agency world’s mumbling over AI, especially among those who worry that the technology’s increasing dominance will automate creativity and put creative jobs at risk. Siddiq confronted this question in a recent podcast, pointing out that only 20% of the people in the creative field genuinely believe that their jobs are at stake.
Volvo recently revised its plans to go fully electric by 2030, citing “slower-than-expected rollout of charging infrastructure withdrawal of government subsidies in some markets, and additional uncertainties.” In Saudi Arabia, however, EVs are rolling on a smoother road. The Saudi government – which subsidizes EV purchases and is building EV charging infrastructure – sees electric mobility as part of diversifying its economy away from oil dependence.
