FEATURE

The ‘Groovy Goo’

A motorshow is a great place to see vehicles that you would not otherwise get to see on Malaysian roads. To excite interest in their brand and lure people to the exhibition booth, distributors typically import concept vehicles or display their top of the range cars. Who can blame them? From an exhibitor’s point of view, it is a tough challenge to fight for people’s attention amongst so many competitors, each with their own unique attraction. The visiting crowds are largely transient in nature given the amount of booths they have to cover before their feet give way from fatigue. And as participating in a motorshow can be a million-ringgit exercise (some even spend more than a million!) for some of the larger participants, ensuring a commensurable amount of traffic is essential… especially for those who proposed participating!

In trying to find a way to draw crowds, TC Euro Cars (TCEC) - the subsidiary of Tan Chong Motors which is the franchise holder for Renault cars - decided to take a different route when it came to designing their exhibition area, as Reza A. Mutalib, TCEC’s Deputy General Manager, explained.

“Our objective was to create something that would stand out and be memorable. At the same time, we needed a theme to showcase the Kangoo’s ‘DNA’ of fun and versatility. It was serendipity when I came across a friend’s keychain with the words “Pussy Wagon” imprinted on it. The keychain was a memorabilia from the movie ‘Kill Bill’ and it was written in a 1960s style and was pink in color. The first time I saw it, I knew we had our theme,” said Reza.

Many people love to have their picture taken in the vehicle	Interior of the ‘shag pad’

What originated from that little keychain now has come alive in the form of “Groovy Goo”. This eye-catching machine started life as a Renault Kangoo light commercial vehicle and for KLIMS 2006, it was transformed to ‘a shag pad on wheels’ (Reza’s words), complete with a sheepskin rug, mirrored ceiling and a revolving disco ball at the back!

“We wanted to create something that will draw people to the booth and most importantly, leave a smile on their face. A concept car like the ‘Groovy Goo’ can instigate people’s imagination as to the branding possibilities of the Kangoo LCVs,” explained Reza.

The keychain that inspired Reza and led to the creation of the ‘Groovy Goo’	Doubt if you can drive around with those wheel covers!
Unusual… to say the least…	‘Atomic Goo’ is adapted from the sportier Kangoo Sportif Nevo

A touch of “Buzz Lightyear” on the roof of the ‘Atomic Goo’

Red alcantra leather and 3 DVD screens inside the ‘Atomic Goo’

The standard Kangoo Combi (top) and Kangoo Sportif Nevo

What should also be noted is that the ‘Groovy Goo’ and her brother the ‘Atomic Goo’ were conceptualized, sourced and engineered locally. “After the initial concept boards were drawn up, we had a pretty firm idea of the styling direction and content of the car. All of the materials used were sourced locally; the sheepskin came from IKEA; the disco ball from Room Interior; the seat material from Nagoya; and we found the runway carpet from Home Décor. It was an exhausting search around town but I am really happy with the final product,” said Jamie Liew, Assistant Manager, Marketing.

After days of searching for the right font style and flower design, Jamie ended up hand-drawing the exterior body design of the Groovy Goo by herself – pretty good design talent for someone who is actually an economics graduate!

The construction of the ‘shag pad’ was left to the able hands of Lucky Car Interior. No stranger to interior fabrications, the ‘Groovy Goo’ was a fair bit different from the limousines and VIP transport that Lucky usually does. All the plastic panels including the dashboard were painted by Lucky to match the leather used on the seats. A nice design touch was a woolen mitt to cover the gear knob. Just imagine a furry ball in your hand every time you shift the gears.

Outside of the big smile factor that the ‘Groovy Goo’ provides, there is a real business case behind the pink explosion. “The competitive advantage that the Kangoo has over the other light commercial vehicles is its ability to become a brand marketing platform. As we have demonstrated with the Groovy Goo, a well-designed motif can bring not only attention but top of the mind recall,” said Reza. “A moving billboard is a lot more effective than a stationary one.”

Complementing the ‘Groovy Goo’ is the ‘Atomic Goo’. Based on the Kangoo Sportif Nevo, it takes a more “Buck Rogerish” persona. What is really striking is the red alcantara for the seats, unheard of in a MPV costing RM75,000 - plus the addition of not one but three DVD screens. But nothing will prepare you for what is placed on top – a rocket ship! Actually, it’s just a Thule box with wings…

“I wanted an element of ‘Buzz Lightyear’ from ‘Toy Story’ to be part of the ‘Atomic Goo’s’ persona. So I found this Thule box in our storeroom and thought to myself ‘hmmm, it’s quite sleek looking, wonder what it would look like if we put wings, a cockpit and turbojets on it’,” Reza revealed. Again, Lucky Car interior was called upon to perform the impossible and after four days, “Go Rocket” was born. Have a look at the back of the rocket and take a guess what those “turbojets” are made of. (try two rice bowls, one inside the other!)

Frankly, no other vehicle comes to mind that has the breadth of Kangoo’s versatility in applications. The Groovy Goo and Atomic Goo are wonderful exercises in imagination and it is TCEC’s hope that its creation will spark off a new platform in brand marketing.

The two vehicles, as well as other Renault models, are in Hall 2 of the KL International Motorshow 2006 which ends on this Sunday night at 10 pm.