Painting for Life

There's nothing more satisfying than a good idea where everything just fits. The product, the concept, the brand, the communication, the timing. Often these ideas come from those New Kid on the Block brands, who are less weighed down from Old School Marketing baggage, Brand Identity manuals and Corporate Guidelines.

So, it's especially cheering when such an idea comes from a brand that's been around for decades, like Volvo.

The idea is Volvo LifePaint, a safety spray for cyclists (and kids' helmets, dog leads etc. etc.) that's invisible at day but shines at night - I used to know quite a few people like that (!). There's a whole website dedicated to LifePaint here.

Volvo have taken their core brand equity - safety - and instead of chucking it out on the grounds of not being exactly scintillating, have re-interpreted it in a particularly Swedish, democratic way:

Road safety shouldn't be for the few...

Less a case of thinking outside the box and more a case of thinking outside the car.