It is tough, it is structurally and technologically one of the best, its engineering is second to none, it has now been proven on the roughest terrain by the toughest of critics and it was naked. No one knew what badge it bore.

A few weeks ago Australians were asked to ‘Guess the Naked Ute’ via a teaser campaign on television, social and online, with more than 100,000 ute lovers voting in an online poll.

The big reveal of the campaign came the other week when Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles unveiled the identity of the highly talked about Naked Ute – the Volkswagen Amarok. The campaign was created by DDB Sydney.

DDB Group Sydney chief creative officer, Toby Talbot, said, “Australians long held the perception the Amarok was a city ute. We felt the most authentic way to challenge this perception was by stripping it bare and allowing pure performance to do the talking.

“We took the Amarok and removed the badges, removed the luxuries and comfort previously synonymous with the brand and put it to the tough test in very rough conditions by staunch critics. You can’t argue with that,” Talbot concluded.

DDB deputy ECD Cam Hoelter said the agency jumped at the chance to show that a ute engineered in Germany had all that it takes to take on Australia’s tough conditions.

“Blind taste tests have always been used to challenge preconceptions of products in advertising. But never when it comes to cars. So we asked what if people couldn’t judge the Amarok by it’s cover, but by performance alone would they reconsider what they thought of it?” Hoelter said.

The Naked Ute is a fully integrated, through the line campaign and was launched via TVC, print and digital as well as a highly successful content campaign delivered primarily through Facebook.

The campaign started with a week long teaser period with a stripped back ‘naked ute’ featuring in a 15” TVC that called on the public to ‘Guess the Naked Ute’. This was supported by a promoted social campaign that had separate content whereby viewers were introduced to four Aussie ute lovers who put the “Naked Ute’ through its grueling paces. New content was rolled out each day driving traffic to thenakedute.com to vote or view more.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles marketing manager, Ralph Beckmann, commented, “We wanted to really challenge some of the misconceptions around Amarok and develop a disruptive campaign to bring this to life.

“We believed many couldn’t see beyond the Volkswagen badge and the good looking exterior. So we decided to take it away and the response has been phenomenal. In our first week alone, the engagement far exceeded our expectations and it also showed us that a lot of people know their Amaroks down to bolts, suspension, stance and even the shape of the rear window,” Beckmann said.

The campaign was produced in partnership with The Glue Society/Will O’Rourke with Matt Devine directing the TVCs and Jonathan Kneebone taking on the content challenge.