The Resurrection of an Industry Giant
Volkswagen: it is one of the most well-known and popular car brands in the world, and its story has definitely been full of ups and downs all the way back to the beginning of its journey in 1934.
Background
The company was originally operated by the German Labour Front, a Nazi organization, and Ferdinand Porsche was responsible for the original design of the car.
In 1946, it was rebuilt under British supervision, and thus the mass production of the Volkswagen began. Since then, many famous Volkswagen models came to life, such as the Beetle, Passat, and Golf. By now, Volkswagen also owns several other automotive companies, including Audi and Porsche in Germany, Bentley in the UK, and Lamborghini in Italy.
HOWEVER, here came the “emission scandal”:
This notorious scandal is considered as one of the most serious crises in the car industry that ever happened on a global scale. A “cheating device” that allowed cars to emit up to 40 times more toxic fumes than permitted was found in VW cars and revealed to the public. More ironically, VW had a huge marketing campaign promoting its diesel cars' low emissions. As a result, the cheating affects 11m cars worldwide, and the impact was deadly: VW had to issue millions of car recalls with €6.7bn euros to cover the costs as well as the goodwill payments to customers.
Zabel, senior VP of marketing: “Without mentioning the past, Volkswagen would never have the credibility or authenticity to move forward with the brand”
In 2019, VW finally began a new brand campaign called “Drive Something Bigger Than Yourself”, which was designed to demonstrate the world its long-term vision for a much higher purpose, extending beyond environmental messaging to tackle the larger idea of rising above self-interest. It also marks as a reassessment of the brand, of the company, and how VW wants to move forward.
On the official website, there is a whole section designated for this campaign talking about introducing electric vehicles with mobility and sustainability and advocating people to drive sustainably.
A video commercial was also created for this campaign, which is called “hello light”. It is smart that VW created a campaign that can remind people of what had originally excited them and was able to take them back to that moment when Volkswagen was at its strongest. Ending with “In the darkness, we found the light” also sent out hope that the new electric vehicles that are planned for production in 2022 will eventually cut through the gloom.
Results
In 2019, VW’s sales worldwide increased by 0.5% to 6,278,300 car and has gained market share in many regions of the world despite the shrinking overall market, which marked the campaign as a great success.
Thoughts?
By intentionally mentioning the scandal in a new ad campaign, a brand risks reminding buyers about an issue that many probably had forgotten about. But this also shows that a big company like Volkswagen is willing to admit its mistake and improve, starting by beginning a new era of more open, candid and authentic conversation with consumers — the one and only way to regain trust and credibility. I think this marketing campaign definitely marks as a new direction for Big brands to start taking up more responsibilities — be responsible for contributing to the greater good as a leader in its industry.
