Vw Ads Volkswagen Has Long

VW Ads

Volkswagen has long been known for its print and TV advertising. In fact, the company was voted by some advertising professional organizations as "Top Ad Campaign of the 20th Century." In the mid-1960s, when TV commercials were just coming into their own, VW's "Funeral" ad was a little bit fuzzy in black and white, but said it all. The only person to get all of the deceased billions was nephew Harold, since he saved money and drove a VW.

Humor, (double entendres, puns, photo jokes, etc.) as in this commercial, have always been a VW hallmark. One of the first ads was "think small," with the VW alone in the background on a full white page.

Another ad just had the car with "Lemon" in bold type. Ad copy explained that the chrome strip on the glove compartment needed to be replaced because it was blemished. In other words, if this was Volkswagen's idea of a lemon, then the Beetle had to be a well-built car.

Volkswagen continues to use this simple, clear and straight approach in its advertisements many decades later. The headline and slogan are the most important takeaway. The VW "New Beetle Convertible" pill advertisement seen above was one of the winners of the 2007 26h Annual Kelly Awards for print ads. Once again, it was mostly visual, with just the headline reading "Proven Against Negativity. For symptoms including angst, bitterness and incessant brooding." The target median age for this advertisement was 50 with the median income of $74, 727, attracting 28% males, 72% females, 63% married and 51% college graduates. The judges of the Kelly Awards comments included: "Effortlessly Bold," "Standing for optimism and happiness." "Happy pill, clean and says a lot." "Innovation, experimentation for the format," "very involved, dealing with features so you are a part of the product." The print ad was used in women's interest magazines targeted to nurses and teachers were used to reach the target female audience. Sales increased in each month that campaign ran vs. forecast: 19% in August, 52% in September and 311% in October.

This is part of the "Dare to be happy" campaign that is in print and in billboards. Other signs say, "Misery has enough company," nd "Jaded is overrated." It definitely is the minimalist approach. Interesting, the advertisements were also quoted online by several clergy, who were drawn to the overall message of the advertisement, not the car itself.

The strategy for Volkswagen's online advertisements is very different than the print. In 2005, for example, VW's agency DDB kicked off the GTI "dynamic drive" online campaign, which had rich interactive formats that were used to engage audience with the GTI's "dynamic drive." Today, the campaign used large-scale formats that showcased 3D animation of the new GTI and ran across MSN, Gentleman's Quarterly, Sky Sports, the Guardian, Channel 4, Yahoo and Reuters. The format was necessary to entice the internet-savvy target audience in their 20s and 30s and required more than standard ad formats. They wanted to use the online experience to showcase the Golf GTI's dynamic drive. In one animation, when users roll over GTI in a tunnel, the car drives out of the page towards them. In another, users could interact with the ad by switching the color of the GTI. The creative director at DDB said that they used the 3D animation to bring the car alive that "simply cannot be achieved using standard advertising formats."

The new Volkswagen nternet advertising emphasizes this interactivity and is truly geared (pun intended) to those who are not only used to a rich format, but expect it. The website comes up, and users see the VW driving along a road with the background changing in animated form. In addition to being able to read standard specifications, users can actually "build" a car. For example, they can see what their new Beetle will look like in different colors, transmissions and interiors. They can also determine the price of the car based on the specific options presented. Then, one can sign up to take a joy ride at a nearby dealer.

Volkswagen's high interactivity online exemplifies its move toward marketing to a younger demographic. This same strategy is being used with the banner ads for the Jetta safety campaign. In conjunction with the "Safe Happens" campaign in television commercials, these web banners leave the target audience with the one, clear message, "The Volkswagen Jetta ranks high in crash testing." The banners have lead to a sales jump. In the pop up, users in Pop up, users see a demonstration of Jetta's four-star rating crash safety, as the car goes into the priceline.com vacation offer. In the Pull-Down Crash Banner, viewers see a surprise demonstration of Jetta's safety features. When scrolling, they create a crash test. In Shopping Cart, users unexpectedly see a Jetta drive up, tilt the banner, and cause the shopping cart icon from another nearby banner to roll into the front of the Jetta.

Banner

Pull Down

Shopping Cart Crash

The originator of the GTI build site and joy ride, which allows the user to build and then drive in his/her newly created car, provides his rationale behind the design on the Communication Arts website.

We wanted the site to be more than a lead generation tool. It had to be an immersive interactive experience with both the brand and the car. An experience that was fun, focused and echoed the quality and innovation that comes with a pre-tuned, German-engineered GTI MkV.