Project Duende

The Challenge

Launch a sensible four-door saloon with a Spanish name to the European motoring press, and make them feel something.

The Insight

Passion isn't engineered. It's choreographed. Ideally with horses.

The Solution

We transformed an iconic Victorian palace into an Andalusian dreamscape: total blackout, a lighting rig visible from space, and an immersive, sustainably sourced bark-chip floorscape several inches deep.

At its heart, a troupe of Andalusian dancing horses, framed in a rolling sea of fog evoking the dawn mist on the Sierra Nevada.

The build took a week. Rehearsals took two days. Out of respect for the authenticity of the moment, and the budget, the fog was reserved exclusively for show day.

The Moment

The voiceover swelled.

The tabs opened.

The horses saw the fog.

Leadership in the Moment

As 400 journalists sat in a silence you could have rigged from, our founder, Hen D., rose immediately to his feet and began to applaud.

He applauded the stillness. He applauded the fog. He applauded, with real conviction, the horses' bold artistic choice not to dance. He applauded alone for what internal sources describe as "a really, really long time" before the room, sensing that something was expected of it, joined in.

At the back of the room, our Head of Client Perception, Dr. Henrick, leaned towards the client and said softly, "When you hear applause, you will believe the horses danced." The client remembers the dancing to this day.

Meanwhile, Senior Producer Harry D. held his position side-stage with a shovel, ready for any horse-related outcomes. The shovel was not required. It rarely is when nothing moves.

The Pivot

In a bold, unscripted, real-time pivot, we moved from equine narrative to an authentic, understated vehicle arrival experience, and let the product speak for itself.

The cars were driven on in a calm, orderly fashion, rather like cars arriving at a car park, which our strategists have since identified as "deeply relatable".