Volkswagen: Is great advertising enough to make people stick with a brand despite major PR disasters?
Having bought his first VW at the age of 18 and stuck with the brand ever since, Mumbrella’s Dean Carroll examines whether the emissions scandal would make him buy differently next time around.
The arrest of Audi chief executive officer Rupert Stadler earlier this week over the Volkswagen emissions scandal got me thinking. As a VW-Audi fanboy of sorts (my first car, so to speak, at the age of 18 was a classic 1972 VW Camper Van and I’ve since owned a VW Polo, a VW Golf GTI and an Audi TT), I asked myself: would I buy another vehicle from the Wolfsburg-based auto giant, given the alleged fraud seemingly designed to deceive customers, dealers and regulators?
It was not an easy question for me to answer.
The fact that I would have to ponder further and didn’t have an immediate answer led to even more interesting questions. Why am I hesitating? Is it because VW products are so good? Is it because my closest friends loved the firm’s vehicles too and I gave into peer pressure without even knowing it?
Or is it because Volkswagen has such a rich history of advertising stretching back to the very beginning of modern marketing some 60 odd years ago? An ad heritage that may have inspired goodwill in me, and many millions of others, to the point whereby we might be willing to forgive what could turn out to be criminal behaviour?
Adland guru Bob Hoffman would certainly say it’s the latter. On VW, he once told me that advertising quality and longevity actually counts for a great deal to the man on the street: “They went through this horrendous problem in the last couple of years over lying about emissions and all that crap.
“But the brand equity they built by spending billions of dollars over half a century on good advertising kept them afloat. If they hadn’t created that positive feeling about the brand they would have been in danger of going under. So far at least, they have survived.
“These days, because of the metrics of online advertising, we are measuring nothing but short-term results. Take a walk through the supermarket and tell me if you see any brands that were built by online advertising. I can’t find a single soap, soda, beer or shampoo that was.”
But is good old Bob right? Let’s consider the evidence. It all started in 1959 with the classic Doyle Dane Bernbach ‘Think Small’ ad. Work that it is often said changed advertising forever and indeed kick-started the multi-billion dollar ad industry we know today.
Then came the infamous ‘Lemon’ campaign, which was such a water cooler moment that even Don Draper got jealous in a fictitious (but no doubt based on a true story) scene from Mad Men.
It also led to the insightful documentary Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads? by British filmmaker Joe Marcantonio, son of Alfredo who served as VW’s advertising manager in the 1970s.
“Remember Those Great Volkswagen Ads?” from Dial M Films on Vimeo.
Jumping to 1984, we witnessed ‘The Man’. A TVC that hasn’t dated well – they rarely do – but certainly caused a stir at the time. Given the 1980s Bacchanalian references, VW was no longer ‘The People’s Car’ it started life as in the 1930s when it was hijacked as a concept by the fascist German leader Adolf Hitler.
Cut to 2012 and the ‘Door Thunk’ ad focused on ‘The Power of German engineering’.
There were many other truly astonishing ads across the decades too from VW. Some won with humour, others with a great aesthetic, more still with a focus on bulletproof product quality and some by simply tapping into the zeitgeist of the time.
Other brands I love have also gone through their own public relations disasters. Apple had me from 1998 onwards when the colourful iMac was launched. I’ve stuck with them through multiple iPod, iPad, iPhone and MacBook purchases. And yet there have been questions raised over treatment of the labour force in China and the firm’s green credentials. Not by coincidence it would seem, Apple too has produced great adverts over the years.
Looking to the skies, Emirates remains my favourite airline to fly with by a country mile, despite the government subsidies scandal and general unease over Middle East business models. Once again, Emirates too runs great ad campaigns as it happens.
Having processed all of this, it seems obvious that most of us wouldn’t buy a bad product just because the advertising was great. The product has to be great. And when the advertising is great in unison, there is definitely a snowball effect of positive consumer sentiment that leads to longevity and loyalty. In short, almost unbreakable brand equity.
Possibly enough of the stuff for us to ignore the odd PR disaster, just so long as the product remains first-class – Vorsprung durch Technik, as Bartle Bogle Hegarty founder Sir John Hegarty put it when he popularised the German phrase in those game-changing ads – and the marketing hits the grade.
Perhaps I’ll think differently if I ever do leave Singapore one day and I’m confronted with the real-world choice when buying another car. For now though, I’ll just enjoy the ads.
Dean Carroll is the publisher at Mumbrella Asia.
You didn’t answer the premise of your article, Dean. This just comes across as a puff piece to support/promote Volkswagen advertising.
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A quality product will enable them to stay healthy. If you Google search a VW model and it is better than the competition, it will be bought. If it is amongst the competition, then some very smart branding online first, will ensure that buyers are being targeted when they are researching. Quality product and quality search related branding and content is key first.
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I owned VW’s for 20 odd years in the 90’s and 00’s. Brilliant cars. Then. My sister bought a new Golf in 2010. 60K on the clock. Regularly serviced. Complete engine fail. VW response, essentially, tell someone who cares. They were great. They’re not now.
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Isn’t the core issue simply about betrayal of brand faith? ‘Think small’ and ‘Lemon’ firmly established the VW brand as standing for Honesty. The emissions fudging debacle trashed that trust.
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VW cars offer much better construction quality than other equivalents and thats one of the primary reasons its existing owners are loyal to it. Its something they don’t highlight in advertising but their chassis is made using laser seam welding technology which seals any openings and prevents elements such as air or water from coming in around door area at higher speeds. Most cars have this rubber strip running on top near roof along the front to rear door. Volkswagen cars dont have that, even their entry level hatchbacks. Other than that, if you compare its components such as dashboard material, steering, everything feels more robust (although not as robust as bmw).
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Haha. The whole article is about how much he loves VW ads. Havn’t mentioned that he uses his personal experience to back up the argument.
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A simple and timely reminder of the importance of brand equity. Thanks Dean. Got my week off to the right start.
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What they did is criminal and well-known, though it’s not the first or only time an auto has engaged in unconscionable conduct. In a very practical way however, when taking about the emissions issues, they did nothing to compromise the safety of the cars or the well-being of the people in them. They lied, that’s for sure, but not about something like leaving all the wheel nuts off. The cars still ran. The point is, it will affect people’s decision who already had a shred of doubt to start with. It will be a vindication in their hearts and minds of the negativity they felt. In the short term, it may (and has) affect sales to loyalists and owners, but not over the longer term. Even if some don’t stay or return, there’ll be new buyers who’ll take their place. And this has everything to do with the brand, company, advertising and experience.
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