Veedubu’s Quest for an Advertising Agency
Hey, people: VW has changed advertising agencies twice in less than five years.
The phone calls, emails, faxes, FedEx’s, snail mails to Roth Associates about getting on the long list, short list, any list to qualify for the Volkswagen account has to be almost as long as the line-up for free government money in the “Cash For Clunkers” program.
Any agency’s new biz veep (a position of limited duration) the committee members and top execs are literally frothing at the mouth with eager anticipation. Why? Because winning an automotive account was tantamount to climbing the Mount Everest of the industry. To the winner went the financial spoils along with accolades and awards of a major advertiser. That was the old business model.
Hey, people: VW has changed agencies twice in less than five years – something is amiss in Herndon, Virginia or more likely in Germany.
So Kerri Martin brought in one agency without a “review” – who cares, except those who weren’t invited to the dance. Hell, she’d used them at Mini with (most will admit) great success and as I recall from an interview with her at that time, the charge was “raise people’s attention and interest!” This is exactly what CPB did as most will recall.
Did I like their work? Some of it, but certainly not all it, especially the use of the former Mrs. Andre Agassi, the most recent talking bug, and the split costume ads, but in between were often campaigns and ads of real genius that did get people’s attention. Attention did translate to visits to dealers, but once inside there, there was a major void – no interesting products.
And it is product, which drives the creative to new heights of accomplishment especially in the automotive business. Some recent examples include Audi (a VW company) which had a rather poor public perception for many years following a “60 Minutes episode” about unintended acceleration but rebounded with outstanding vehicles backed with product driven advertising in the luxury field. Take this recent commercial. They too were an agency switcher a few years ago.
Of course, there are the Korean kissing cousins brands of Hyundai and Kia.
Hyundai once on the bottom of the JDP study list has literally knocked the industry on its smug butt by not only creating the Genesis, the recent Car of the Year then backing it first with great product based advertising, then using that as the umbrella for the Assurance Program and buck forty-nine gasoline. They too recently switched agencies for reasons not clearly detailed.
Kia, which once shared the poor quality image syndrome, changed that perception by offering a 100,000-mile guarantee to support the reliability claim. There it is again: product based creative. New and better products were introduced and supported with product and demographically focused ads for the new Soul(reviewed here a few weeks ago) with arresting quirky ads and the Forte – a sedan with nice features at a good price that was scarily honest.
The voiceover reveals Kia didn’t invent the engine, speed, satellite, safety features MP3 players, attention to details and other attributes, Kia just brought them “as standard features.”
Ford, long the recipient of invisible advertising has risen to the challenge with new advertising that is bright, communicative and effective because it is product driven and focused both on the Taurus (also reviewed here) and the regular Ford line. The recent CARS ad was one of the best of many.
And of course, there is Groping Motors advertising: it’s no wonder they’re taking the GM name off their vehicles. And for a change, not just the Buick ad – recent Chevy ads are perpetrators. Ex-jock talking down to two guys in black tee shirts with “they said” imprinted is one Bob Lutz supposedly likes, but I disagree. And then there’s the static Chevy Equinox non-creatively augmented with quick cuts to supers. Ho hum. Cadillac’s ad with the fashionista is beyond condescension. They just can’t find anything to grab hold of product wise, can they?
“Good advertising, even great advertising,” a B-school prof of mine once said, “Cannot sell 10 pounds of BS in five pound bag.” In automotive advertising, only the weight is different.
The new agency for VW (or for that matter any car brand) must have a meaningful, solid, mutually respectful symbiotic relationship; it must begin and end with good products that allow the new agency’s teams to focus creative energies.
The new business model when a car brand changes agencies is more like resuscitating a comatose patient in an emergency ward. The attending physicians’ are bright, young, smart, accomplished and highly acclaimed specialists in the new disciplines and skills required in contemporary marketing.
But they still need the wisdom of the Mad Men, the getting grey haired, wrinkled GP’s of the executive committee to maintain the product focus as the kids get ready to perform their marketing and media magic.
It’s best when great products are sold by great advertising.
Austrian Airlines Uses Smart Car Airplanes Promotion
Well, it flies as a promotion, so to speak.
Obviously, it’s difficult to bring a huge airplane onto Fifth Avenue in New York or Massachusetts Avenue in DC, but Austrian Airlines, which flies out of both cities directly to Vienna (with some of the best airline food anywhere), needs to get noticed.
So with a bit of design magic and materials and media they’ve reshaped the iconic Smart Fortwo into a replica of an airplane, albeit a very small one to attract attention. Look for it on the streets of NYC until Labor Day, then for two week in Washington, DC. Ask for the free bottle of water.
A Unique Tire Promotion Consumers Can Understand
Most consumers I’m convinced are clueless as to the meaning of the arcane assortment of numbers and initials on tires. Certainly there are those who understand and comprehend the important gibberish but the ability to translate, much less interpret it into consumer features and benefits is a never ending, daunting task and that’s before an explanation of the tire’s tread shape, which is based quantum physics.
Recently BFGoodrich changed the rules of the tire selling game with a promotion known as the KDW Shotgun Challenge – which is name suited to tires – a showcase to showcase “the capabilities of the BFGoodrich® g-Force™ T/A® KDW tires” another mouthful of name.
Twenty-five consumers were given the “experience of a lifetime” as they rode shotgun next to nine different professional drivers in very fast high performance cars on the Las Vegas Motor Speedway track. It was hot laps plus for those who’ve never had hot laps and included drifting, time attack, rally, road racing and street tuning exercises in abject terror for the uninitiated everyday drivers.
And of course, cameras were capturing every single moment. To see what you’ve missed but what showed the advantages and benefits of the new tires click here.