CUPRA, the car brand developed by SEAT within the Volkswagen Group, has built the launch of its new fully electric urban model, the CUPRA Raval, around the Barcelona neighbourhood that gives the car its name. In an interview with Marketing Directo published on 13 August, Patrick Sievers, CUPRA's global marketing director, explained the thinking behind it.
University of the Streets
The campaign, "University of the Streets", was launched in June. Its 95-second film, shot in the Raval, reinterprets a university graduation speech: it opens in an auditorium, where the British artist Lancey Foux seems ready to give a traditional academic address, and quickly moves to the street, presented as the place where life's most important lessons are learned. Barcelona's 08001 postcode becomes a symbol of a mindset rather than a place.
It brings together musicians Nathy Peluso, Guitarricadelafuente, Kim Petras and Theodora with FC Barcelona players Vicky López, Pedri, Fermín López, Pau Cubarsí, Alejandro Balde and Ferran Torres, over a reinterpretation of Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise" created by PAM PAM Studio. The agency is &Rosàs, the film was directed by Pau Carreté and Nicolás Méndez and produced by CANADA, and the launch runs in more than 50 countries across audiovisual, social media, outdoor, press and display.
Why the Raval
"The Raval gave us an authentic starting point, consistent with CUPRA's origin in Barcelona. Our vision is to inspire the world from Barcelona," Sievers said (translated from Spanish). He described the neighbourhood as representing creativity, diversity, urban energy and cultural mix, and said that "although the inspiration is very local, the message is universal", noting that there are neighbourhoods like the Raval in many European cities. The Raval, he said, "does not appear as a backdrop, but as one more character in the story".
The strategy keeps a common global narrative with local adaptations: which artist leads varies by country and language. In France, the singer Theodora opens the spot, while globally it is Lancey Foux.
A challenger by attitude
"CUPRA is a challenger brand by attitude, not by size," Sievers said, adding that this will not change even with the sales growth the brand is seeing. The aim is to grow without losing authenticity, with sport at the centre, through partnerships such as FC Barcelona, padel and Formula E, and, with the CUPRA Raval, a bigger bet than ever on music. Rather than an age group, he said, CUPRA is looking for an attitude, and today connects especially with an urban, creative and digitally active generation.
Asked about the risk of controversy in telling young people the street teaches more than the classroom, Sievers said the campaign "does not seek to question the value of academic education, but to claim the value of experiential learning". Several of the artists had already been part of the car's world premiere, where they performed unreleased songs on the roof of the vehicle.
