VW wanted to be seen as an innovative car brand and the task was to make sure that more consumers associated the brand with premium engineering and innovative solutions. They specifically needed to communicate the latest innovations including lane assist, adaptive lights and adaptive cruise control.
With traditional media comes clutter amongst automotive brands and today’s empowered consumer does far more research online before considering a test drive. The task was to encourage consumers to research the cars, and to request a test drive at one of their dealers. While premium brands such as Audi and Jaguar car have an army of enthusiasts and rely on the fact the most traditional advertising messages will be picked up and discussed, mainstream brands like VW don’t have the same advantage.
When it comes to cars, the key demographic is male. Men will talk about cars for far longer and in more detail than women. They set the perceptions for motoring brands. Research revealed that innovation isn’t something that brands can simply talk about, they have to demonstrate it. Men want to see it in action and in the auto sector this should ideally be while they are in control of the car. However despite their bravado, a lot of the target market found car advertising too technical. They might talk about cars but many of them couldn’t service them or understand what was going on inside the engine. One device they did understand however was their phone.
In order to demonstrate VW’s design innovation, the brand turned to print and mobile. Consumers were able to test drive a VW without leaving home by downloading an app that let them play with the latest safety features on the VW through augmented reality. The app allowed consumers to drive a virtual VW along a roadway printed on glossy pages. By holding their phones above the printed road they could experience what it was like to drive the latest vehicles and the three new features they contained. Opting for lane assist meant that when the vehicle got too close to the white lines, the phone vibrated. Adaptive lights showed how lights followed the curve of the road as they navigated our road layout. Finally, adaptive cruise control showcased how the cars always maintain a safe distance from the car in front.
The call to action and the route for their unique journey appeared as a premium four-page gatefold in newspaper magazines, car magazines and male-targeted magazines with ads headlined under “Test drive our innovations”.
Results
The app was downloaded 3,500 times and consumers also viewed the executions 35,000 times on YouTube.
VW’s brand scores for “VW is no1 in Innovation” moved up three percentage points.
VW sales up 9% in 2011 compared to 2010.