More than a car? Not more than a brand

More than a car? But not more than a brand-51

When is a car more than a brand?

Never! Specially when we don’t want to talk about the car, but we still have to sell them? Volkswagen latest campaign #morethanacar focused directly on the value of brand heritage to stir the emotions in the car buying public, probably doing more for sales of classic VWs than selling the current milage cheating cars. After the brand catastrophe of the milage scandal and the recent history of safety and production issues it’s a smart move. Wipe the last few years from the collective conscious, blot it out with the dreams of Combie surf trips, first dates in the Love Bug or event Type 3 anoraks.

Have a look at the latest Volkswagan TVC and see what you think:

Now that other car brands are being examined and found wanting it’s going to be interesting to see how the different brands react to managing the bad news. The hard times aren’t over for VW, but it’s always been a brand with a colourful history, and it’s interesting that their agencies have responded by going to the brands fundamentals. Winding back on the recent themes of safety and reliability. What do they mean from a brand that lies? And focusing on the essence of what was the people’s car.

Now, it maybe that this is just the concept for a brand level ad, rather than a more focused retail sales campaign, but still it feels like a clear change of direction for a company that undoubtably has a history of bucking the trend and clearly needs to do something different right now, even if that’s just different from what they have been doing.

Derek Carroll

Derek is the Creative Partner at Truly Deeply, a brand agency with 25 years experience working with brands to position them for growth. His deep expertise is in creating beautiful, effective and unique brand identities that bring strategy to life and resonate with audiences. Derek has extensive experience developing consumer, business, community and government brands.
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Images from deluxekombiservice.com.au

 

 

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