New Zealand energy company Mercury has launched the second wave of its ‘Energy Made Wonderful’ brand campaign via Kiwi agency FCB.

The 2016/17 brand relaunch featured electric-bikes as a tangible example of how affordable, renewable energy is transforming our world in ‘wonderful’ ways.

Though e-bikes will continue to be supported by Mercury, the focus for 2018 will centre around electric vehicles.

Rather than rationally explaining the many and various benefits of electric vehicles, FCB recommended leading with a far more emotional approach.

“Cars represent excitement, freedom, status, yet most electric vehicle marketing talks to us as though we were rational robots,” FCB chief strategist David Thomason said.

FCB and Mercury began by finding a gas-guzzling 1950s American convertible, and electrified it to create the ‘dream car’ together with a team of internationally-renowned, home-grown talent.

Nicknamed ‘Evie’, the transformation represents all the authentic nostalgia and excitement of a classic, with the unexpectedly quiet power and dramatically reduced running costs of an electric vehicle.

“It was fantastic to start by creating something real. Evie says everything we want to say, and she’ll say it for a very long time,” FCB executive creative director Tony Clewett said.

Evie is supported with a fully integrated campaign including cinema, TV, digital banners and out-of-home, using the car to continue to showcase the opportunity New Zealand has with renewable electricity powering our transport.

The TVCs, produced by FINCH, celebrate the joy and renewed energy experienced by two elderly gentlemen as they relive their youth through Evie.

The quietness of the powerful electric motor is central to the plot, but it’s firstly the emotional connection that Mercury expect to shift entrenched perceptions.

Mercury’s chief marketing officer, Julia Jack, said: “Evie is the perfect embodiment of ‘Energy Made Wonderful’, and a symbol of our escape from fossil fuel reliance.

“We want to inspire Kiwis with the wonderful opportunity we have in electric vehicles, and that’s what we have in Evie.

“This is much more than just an advertising campaign. This is the next step in our company- wide focus on advocating for transport electrification. We have a massive opportunity here, with our world-leading renewable credentials.”