Volvo CEO goes big to promote small crossover

Volvo has gotten nearly 2 million views on YouTube for a short film called "The Unboxing" that it made for the global debut of the EX30 small crossover.

The end product is only 6 minutes long, but it took six 12-hour days to shoot the film.

CEO Jim Rowan — who stars in the film, taking on a number of roles as well as exaggerated sizes ranging from a giant to a "mini me" — worked from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. on the last two days of the shoot to complete his part.

"Jim invested a lot of time to make this great idea come to life," a Volvo spokesman told Automotive News Europe.

Volvo received the first raw edit the week after the shoot, around April 10, and continued tweaking and adjusting the film, which was created with the help of digital design and communications agency AKQA and London-based visual effects specialist The Mill, until May 31.

Rowan was presented the idea late last year by the communication, brand and marketing team. What was his initial reaction?

"This was a weird one!" the spokesman remembered Rowan saying about the idea, but he meant that positively because he could envision what the final product would look like.

"He saw how excited we were about it and gave his full trust to the team to execute the idea to the fullest," the spokesman said.

When asked whether there were concerns that Rowan might face criticism because the film was not what one might expect from a Volvo CEO, the spokesman said the company believed a more playful tone was needed for a car that would target a much younger audience.

"From Day 1 of filming, we were fully confident it would work," the spokesman said. "We could all see it come to life."