Skoda has come a long way since its Communist-era image of terrible cars that always break down. Today its cars are more reliable and more refined than ever. But it was in danger of becoming ‘just another VW’.

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It had to differentiate itself against its more premium stablemates – that’s where we came in.

The insight:

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Compared to most other car brands, Skoda already had a secret weapon we could deploy: personality. Skoda’s mission statement says: “to provide modern accessible mobility solutions with everything you need and surprises you love.”

In other words, a Skoda is for the kind of person who doesn’t take themselves seriously – who is driven to build a life full of enjoyment and happiness.

Skoda’s doesn’t make aspirational cars in the classic sense – no open top roadster or V12 supercar – so it needs to appeal to people who judge success by the life they lead, not the riches or promotions they get. People, in short, who are driven by more than money.

So we conducted a hostile takeover of The Sunday Times Rich List – a long-running magazine that promotes envy and greed. In the middle of all that ugly wealth, we celebrated inspirational people who live fulfilling lives that are enriched by more than mere money.

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The Work:

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Obviously the qualities we were looking for – such as integrity, wisdom, courage, self fulfilment and altruism – can't be measured by the yard or bucketful. So to compile the list we formed a panel of judges, who each embody the qualities we are looking for, to debate a selection of nominees and settle on a final list.

Our judges included Sally Phillips, actress and disability campaigner; Trevor Phillips, broadcaster and equality campaigner; Levison Wood, author and explorer; Kanya King, music entrepreneur and visionary founder of the MOBOs; and Kirsten Stagg, head of marketing for Skoda UK.

The list was selected during a lively and challenging judging day under the direction of our moderator Stig Abell (Times Radio’s breakfast presenter) and included a diverse range of people, such as Helen Sharman, Britain’s first astronaut, North Korean refugee and campaigner Jihyun Park, shepherd and environmentalist James Rebanks, writer and social rapper Dr Martin Glynn and the first black woman to win the Turner Prize Lubaina Himid, who was also the oldest winner. We also included a special award, Revolution for Women, for the nominees who had done the most to advance the cause of women’s equality.

Abell said: “We’ve put together a list that showcases the best of human endeavour, intrinsic value, and the ability of people to influence those around them. We’ve looked at the positive impact that people can make – and that’s a lovely thing.”

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TheAlternative Rich List – changing the way we value life, one story at a time.

TheAlternative Rich List reached over 4.5 million people across print, online, radio and social, and the average dwell time for our videos was 3mins 33secs.

The campaign changed the way our audiences view Skoda too: positive perceptions of the Skoda brand increased by an astonishing 187% among those who recalled seeing the campaign. Over two-thirds of readers said they see Skoda as a brand with ‘independent spirit’ – an uplift of 49% – while almost half said that Skoda is an inspirational brand. Over 20% of readers polled said they had looked for further information about Skoda and its model range.

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