Well do you think are some of the reasons Crispin would move from MINI Marketing to VW Marketing?

1.) More $$$??
2.) More Challenge to sell a VW over a MINI?
3.) MINI campaigns got stale and he needed something new?
4.) Crispin already already had it made with the MINI success, and felt they can do anything now?
5.) They saw VW as the underdog over BMW because of VW's & Audi's mixed up marketing?? I mean come on, who would pay over $50K for a VW??

Come on, let hear some guesses!!!

 

Hey wait a sec, at least it breaks my heart to bash - 3/4 of my previously owned cars have been VW's... beetles, buses, camper, golf, '67, '68, '71, '78, '85...

My sis in law recently acquired a TDI Jetta and it does perform as you described (edit - and the dash is kinda cool and the seats are comfy).

I share somewhat in your sensitivity to the "bashing" - my history bears that out.
Tatt

 

I think the marketing ads help establish the image of the product. I agree the ads only help get people aware of the product and if the product is not acceptable, then it still won't sell.

I also think that advertisements help set the perception of a product, and to most people, perception is reality.

How many of you remember some of the advertising themes of cars like the ones below? Do they improve your perception of the brand or make you think less of it?

Like a rock
Shift_?
Zoom, zoom
Not your father's _______
Let's motor.

VW has an image problem (quality, boring cars, dealer networks). Maybe the new advertising campain will help.

 

I wish the quality you cite was consistant throughout VWs product line...like MINI. If it was I'd still be driving one.

I'm glad your daughters VW is running well. Curious...what year is it?

hs

 

Someone posted this over at motoringfile.com:


Heck, VW has an extremely tough time with VW products. Are they a luxury car company? A driver enthusiast company? A young hipster company? They don't seem to know any more, and neither do we.

I used to be a big VW fan (sold my '00 Passat and Miata for my MINI cabrio) but I've lost hope in the company. VWs continue to get bigger, softer, uglier (IMO), and more expensive.

While VW moves upscale and alienates its entire customer base, Mazda (and MINI, of course) has slid in to fill the "fun & exciting yet affordable" niche, a niche VW once had a firm hold on. They should have stuck to their winning formula, canned the disastrous Phaeton and Passat W8, and made the Touareg a cheaper, sportier vehicle to compete at a lower price point. They were on a tear, the future was looking bright, and they suddenly burned it all down. Why???

I live in a Jetta-heavy area, and I've so far seen one new Jetta on the road. One. Tons of the older model. I wish they had gone through with the new Microbus. And what's the hold up on the new GTi here in the States???

Sorry for the rant, but VW's vertical death plunge really bothers me.


Very spot on comments. This post nicely summarizes the current state of affairs at VW. This is not bashing, it is R-E-A-L-I-T-Y.

 

VWs continue to get bigger, softer, uglier (IMO), and more expensive./QUOTE]

Hey C4:

You left out undependable, unreliable, without customer support.



Don't get me started.

hs

 

Octane Guy-

I think it's for more money (better contract). Maybe a new challenge as well.

I have an A6 and while in for service I was given an '04 Golf and an '04 Jetta as loaners. Niether impressed me at all. Nice build, lousy drivers. After driving my MCS the Golf felt terrible, disconnected and awfully slow. The 1.8t lag in the Jetta was beyond acceptable, almost dangerous. My two cents.

 

For those of you who weren't active on the MINI enthusiast websites in late 2001/early 2002, the MINIUSA website was breathtakingly thrilling to us!

It took lots of waiting for the first year models to get to all the folks who were so desperate to buy them. We spent a LOT of time dreaming and waiting on the MINIUSA site...it was our lifeline until the MINIs started to roll in. :smile:

Many of us shifted more and more to hanging out here on NAM and on the other enthusiast sites. The launch of the MINI was a guerilla-style campaign executed via computer, carefully-chosen magazine ads and stories, and most definitely, by word of mouth.

Good luck to CP&B in their new account. I have enjoyed all their work for MINI.


Clover

 

MINIUSA's ad budget: $25 million
VWoA's ad budget: $417 million

I think you hit the nail on the head with #1. No rational business is going to walk away from a new client looking to spend 15 times the amount of money that their current client is spending. Time to give MINI the boot so there is no conflict of interest, and get to work.

 

Just to clarify - the fine folks at Beam Interactive created and currently maintain MINIUSA.com - not CP&B.

 

So did CP&B just handle the U.S. market? I'm assuming so. If that's the case, then the clever antics on the web site (U.S. and other) as well as the cheeky ads we see in other market are destined to continue here in some form. I expect CP&B will have to go another direction w/ the VW account.

Which reminds me....car commercials are a scream! So much hype for so little product!!! It makes me laugh....and cry!!!

 

They didn't work with CP&B, Gabe? Oh well....I enjoyed all the fun little ad ideas they did with the MINI, anyway.


Clover

 

i wonder what the people on the VW equivilant of NAM are talking about...

 

I really love the countercounterfeit mini campaign. Whose idea was that? This kind of thinking is what VW needs. VW also needs to restore their roots - basic, economical, reliable transportation. Where are their hybrids?

 

Old: Farfegnugen
New: Farfrompoopin'

 

VW doesn't need lousy hybrids. They already have a much better solution: Turbo Diesels.

 

Okay so here's some of the comments from the Vortex(VW) forum:

why? the thing I liked about vw commercials was that they were whitty and funny. I hope the new commercials dont turn out like that homo truth campaign.

Quote, originally posted by Corrado2Passat »the thing I liked about vw commercials was that they were whitty and funny. Lately they have been anything but. The marketing for Volkswagen in Europe is what they should be looking at for a direction here.

I've been bitching and moaning to myself for months about VWoA's current marketing strategy. It just plain sucks. Just about anything will be better.


they rock..all there comercials and magazine adds for the minni are funny as heal. and how funny were those star wars bk adds.expect grate things from them.


Well said!. I hope their focus group will look at vwvortex...
and try to understand what loyal vw customers would like such as:
- GTI 4 doors, 4WD, (see the Subaru/Saab WRX!!!)
- Polo and Lupo (against the Mini, Toyota Echo,....)
- (Jetta or Passat Wagon) Diesels + manual Tranny...
- No 3 to 6 months waiting list for silver color...

and what customers are not very looking for
(vw spent a fortune for those low selling cars)
- Luxury Sedan Phaeton (Would get Audi)
- Luxury SUV Thouareg

To err is human, but to persevere in error is only the act of a fool. ...

I am just refering to some older poll
The Mini sell like hot cake but VWOA saids that "there is no market for the Polo/Lupo"?




That is about all the responses. Not nearly as active on news events as us.