The Times of India blitzkrieg for Volkswagen

By Savia Jane Pinto, afaqs!, Mumbai, November 12, 2009

Section: News Category: Advertising

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The German car maker made tyre impressions on The Times of India.
Volkswagen, the German car manufacturer that has been in India since October 2007, has
identified the need to make deeper inroads in the country. To this end, it has flagged off a huge
campaign, which began by taking over all the ad space in The Times of India on November 11,
2009.
A cover on cover was also part of the newspaper. There were ads in Economic Times too, which
directed readers to The Times of India.
All editions of the English daily on November 11 had only Volkswagen ads. Each paper has
close to 16,000 square centimetres of print space. Though afaqs! could not put a number to the
spends incurred for this roadblock; Lutz Kothe, chief general manager, marketing and public
relations, Volkswagen India, said a few days ago that it was "highly competitive".

The idea of the roadblock in the daily was to familiarise Indians with the 70-year-old car maker.
Mediacom, the media agency for Volkswagen, has carried out the activity. DivyaGururaj,
managing director, Mediacom tells afaqs!, "Volkswagen intends to share its heritage and what it
stands for with the Indian consumer."
Kothe says, "We need to build a brand foundation, now that Volkswagen will launch its others
car brands as well."
The print ads are informative in nature, highlighting certain facts and detailing the history of the
car manufacturer.
The creative agency for Volkswagen is DDB Mudra. Rajeev Raja, creative head, DDB Mudra
tells afaqs!, "We had to convey the entire story of Volkswagen with a skew on innovation,
through the pieces in the newspaper." The facts and details were written along with the team at
DDB Mudra and Volkswagen.
A TVC, the first for Volkswagen in India, also premiered yesterday. It shows a young boy in a
Volkswagen showroom, selecting the cars that he wants to 'book in advance' at various stages of
his life -- one for his 18th birthday, one when he becomes the vice-president of a company and
another when he eventually becomes the chief executive officer. The tagline says, 'German
engineering. Made for India.'
Kothe says, "We want to convey to our customers and future customers that Volkswagen as a
brand and company is here to stay."
The campaign will also use outdoor and digital to build familiarity.
In the two years that Volkswagen has been in India, it has launched the Volkswagen Jetta and
Passat -- sedans targeted at niche upper segment consumers.
On the cards is the launch of the Volkswagen Beetle, better known as the People's Car; the
Volkswagen Touareg, a mid-size luxury sport utility vehicle; and the Volkswagen Polo, a mid-
size car.
With other models of the car driving into the country, Volkswagen's TG has also changed.
Hence, the 360-degree campaign is aimed at a larger audience across segments.
Volkswagen rolls out Rs40 cr campaign
Volkswagen started off the campaign, “German Engineering, Made for India” on
Wednesday with as many as 13 advertisements in English daily The Times of India.
The firm launched its TV campaign also on Wednesday

AnushreeChandran

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Mumbai: It may just have two models in India, but German carmaker Volkswagen AG has
embarked on a Rs40 crore ad campaign to build its brand in the run-up to its December launch of
small car Beetle and sports utility vehicle Touareg and the January launch of another small car,
the Polo.
Lutz Kothe, chief general manager (marketing and public relations), Volkswagen India said the
firm won’t comment on its ad expenditure but admitted the media blitzkrieg was aimed at
growing Volkswagen’s brand awareness. Even though the Passat was launched in 2007 and the
Jetta in 2008, the brand awareness was inadequate, he added.
Volkswagen started off the campaign, “German Engineering, Made for India” on Wednesday
with as many as 13 advertisements in English daily The Times of India (TOI). The print
campaign talks about Volkswagen’s history and its car brands Jetta and Passat (already present in
the Indian market).
The firm launched its TV campaign also on Wednesday. Its TV ad shows a boy in a Volkswagen
showroom, planning car purchases for various stages of his life. He wants to pre-book a Beetle
for his 18th birthday and a Jetta for the day he heads a large corporation.
Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer of Mudra Group that handles the advertising said while the
so-called roadblock in TOI was about introducing Indian consumers to Volkswagen, the second
leg of the print campaign would focus on product attributes of existing brands Jetta and Passat
and new launches such as Beetle and Touareg. He said innovations (web banners and web
specials) on mainline websites and billboards would be launched soon. A senior executive from
one of the agencies handling the Volkswagen account in India said that the total size of the
campaign was approximately Rs40 crore and the firm had budgeted Rs8-10 crore for print, Rs10
crore for outdoor and digital and Rs20 crore for TV ads.
“We’ve taken 17,692 television spots across 47 channels in 16 genres. We’ve booked 144
insertions in leading dailies and 50 insertions in magazines. In the out of home medium, we’ve
booked 280 sites while in digital, we’ve booked 23 websites,” said Kothe.
He added that each car brand addresses different audiences and has a different brand positioning.
“Beetle is positioned as the return of the legend, while Jetta focuses on dynamic performance.
Passat is all about comfort and Touareg is about domination.”
VaishaliJajoo, auto analyst of Angel Broking Ltd said these are early days for Volkswagen in
India. The firm operates in “the premium cars segment, which accounts for barely 2% of overall
car sales”, she added. According to industry body the Society of Indian Automobile
Manufacturers (SIAM), Volkswagen India Pvt. Ltd sold 1,172 cars between April and October,
while Mercedes Benz Pvt. Ltd sold 1869 cars in the same period and BMW India Pvt. Ltd sold
2089.
SanjeevShukla, general manager at Ford India Pvt. Ltd, said the Jetta and Passat clocked poor
sales in October 2009 and the only reason why the firm launched its ad offensive is to prepare
itself for the launch of Polo, poised as a mainstream car brand.
Media specialists from other agencies are awed with Volkswagen’s ad blast. ShashiSinha, chief
executive of Lodestar Universal Pvt. Ltd said it takes great guts to accomplish a roadblock of the
kind taken on by the brand. “But I think that the impact would have been far greater if
Volkswagen had many brands in India. Right now, there are just two.”
Price of Vento – 6.99 lacs

Made in India – Fuel Efficiency, Safety & Toughness, Road Handling

Market share as of January 2010 – 1.35%