Corvette Academy

Client: Chevrolet

Agency: Commonwealth // McCann

Product: 2020 Corvette

"When we finally got to the track, we burst out laughing.
Oh my God, thats what we wanted."

The Brief

Elegantly unveil an engineering triumph. Prepare and educate legendary loyalists for the makeover of their icon. Introduce a sports car that's been rearranged for optimum performance, without the ability to film it actually performing. Use the sophistication and customization to draw in a new class of consumer to the Corvette community. The brief called for long form videos, but it was not until creative development that we set out to make a documentary.

Corvette Academy evolved creatively with the constraints of the sports car's reveal. The vehicle had a bounty on its image, with photographers flying spy drones to sneak a peek at the vehicle racing around even in camouflage. This forced any shoot indoors.

Creative Approach

The giant engineering overhaul of a mid-engine configuration, created barriers to entry for us as creators gathering background on the story. Choosing to go straight to the engineers and designers who had spent years or decades cloaked in secrecy, provided a unique excitement to the history. These experts were bursting to share their experience and we granted them the first interview to harness their fresh energy.

We employed a mix of vehicle testing footage, CGI, motion graphics, 3D projections, and practical demonstrations to visualize the rich and informationally complex interviews. Together they created a classroom comfortable for any level car enthusiast.

The Results

After quietly working for 9 months, the videos garnered trade acclaim and the Academy format was quickly adopted by GM clients across nameplates and even brands. The series format has prevailed as an evergreen production for Corvette, 4 years later creative teams are making new Corvette Academy videos to showcase the latest models. It became a teaching tool for dealers and a way to educated the consumer while being laced with the excitement of peeking behind the iron curtain of automotive design.