Parasol Island – Integrated Digital Studio

The Discovery of Slowness in Automotive Marketing.

With over 40 years of production and nearly eight million vehicles manufactured, the Fiat Panda is one of the most successful models in Europe. It is the best-selling car in Italy and a beloved symbol on wheels throughout Europe. The fact that the compact car will continue to play a role in Fiat’s brand strategy is evident in the content campaign launched in spring 2023, which begins with a documentary film.

Director Giovanni Troilo portrays fourteen different individuals in the film who share two commonalities: a Fiat Panda, regardless of the model series, plays a central role in their everyday mobility, and they all live on the Mediterranean island of Pantelleria, situated between Sicily and the coast of North Africa. In Italy, it is said that there are more Pandas than inhabitants on the island, which could very well be true, considering that the model makes up the majority of the rental car fleet for summer guests on the island.

“Pandelleria” is a leisurely told film: for 30 minutes, viewers are introduced to a diverse range of people deeply rooted in the island, including a spiritual guide, a beekeeper, a mechanic, and an aging diva. The film conveys authenticity and empathy through its selection of main characters and the closeness to its protagonists.

A continuous social media campaign follows the film: this campaign also focuses not only on the Panda but also on the individuals featured in the documentary. At its peak, individual Instagram posts garnered thousands of likes, and the film was viewed approximately 60,000 times by the time of publication. The young Italian content creator and influencer Gabriele Vagnato successfully extends the campaign for the Generation Z: his initial venture as a comedic Panda reporter on Pantelleria received nearly 250,000 likes on TikTok and was shared over 3,500 times.