As Gojek expands its unified brand from Indonesia and Singapore to both Vietnam and Thailand, it's marking the occasion with a new slickly produced campaign to reflect its emergence as a regional presence.
Produced by Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore, the brand film reveals a world where people's needs and activities meld seamlessly with Gojek's transport, delivery and merchant goods and services. It depicts a bustling stylised city where everything 'flows' in a fluid motion, culminating in a circular urban set from which the Gojek logo—which Gojek calls their 'Solv', a symbol of all their various solutions— emerges.
"Our plan and brief from the beginning was to create something that is true to the Gojek brand and mission of removing life’s daily frictions," Gojek's group head of international marketing Jasper Distel told Campaign. "We wanted to introduce Gojek to other markets in the way that it is known in our home market, Indonesia, as a problem-solver for cities. This is how we hope to differentiate ourselves from day one in Thailand and Vietnam."
The on-demand transport and delivery service app operates in 207 cities across five different Southeast Asian countries but has been doing so under the brands of GoViet in Vietnam and GET in Thailand for over a year. In July, Gojek announced these brands would be unified under 'Gojek' in those markets.
The campaign launches today in Vietnam with the brand film airing on TV, YouTube and Gojek's owned platforms alongside out-of-home placements in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city. Further PR, digital and social efforts are also planned. The brand film will also air in Thailand in the coming weeks and the campaign will be used in Singapore and Indonesia as well.
Production challenges
The ambitious production of the brand film represents a coming-of-age for Gojek, which involved 25 cars, 15 motorbikes and as many stunt drivers, looping a giant 25-metre-wide motordrome 75 times. And with this came new complexities and challenges under the pandemic.
Distel told Campaign they originally planned to shoot in Southeast Asia before travel restrictions were put in place. Forsman & Bodenfors then came up with a secondary plan of shooting in Ukraine where they could find production facilities that were as good. The whole set took 10 days to build, with a crew working nonstop for five days. With just one representative onsite and the rest plugged in virtually every night, Distel said the team doggedly worked through all the challenges surrounding talent, health and safety.
"I am so proud that we managed to pull this off in just three months, especially since a project of this size and scale would ordinarily take at least six months to get filmed and ready to be aired," said Distel.
“Not all companies have the courage to do something so bold to bring to life their brand story and purpose. We are very proud to have been able to produce this film," added Forsman & Bodenfors Singapore CEO Susanna Fagring. "And the end result is something quite special that will very effectively introduce the Gojek brand to millions of new consumers across the region.”
But Distel said the work will not end with this campaign, noting the brand will continue building on this notion of 'the flow' which he describes as "the most visual and emotional representation of our mission" in removing life’s daily frictions. "We hope to do more of such campaigns—ones that are bigger and better!"