Volkswagen partner showrooms have been open again since May 11. It goes without saying that comprehensive protection, hygiene and prevention measures are being observed. This opening is now accompanied in a first step by the cross-media image campaign "Finally on the road again". It focuses for a lot of reach and visibility on the channels that have gained even more importance through Covid-19: TV, digital and social media. And, of course, it can also be seen in owned media and at POS. The campaign includes a TV spot, a social media spot and a variety of digital assets, among others. In a second step, an offer campaign will follow.

The remarkable thing about it is that all the film sequences, the film music and also the campaign images originally came from Volkswagen's extensive content archive. And thus from all over Europe.

And of course, the entire campaign was created in the home office, KSP writes in a statement. "In the shortest possible time, in close cooperation between the client-agency core team and with an extreme amount of pleasure and joy."

"Here's where life plays" is the claim of the new VW Golf, which is more digital, connected and intelligent than its seven predecessors thanks to various innovative features.

On behalf of Amag, the lead agency took up the theme of "life" and spun it further in communicative terms. The principle: First of all, real failures that have gone viral on the Internet are shown, which are part of life. After that, reference is made to the new Golf, which is supposed to ensure significantly fewer fails and more wins.

 

Fail Tuesdays with Watson

In December 2019, two "Fail Tuesdays" were sponsored on Watson.ch as well as on its social media channels, and each was resolved with a feature of the new Golf - in keeping with the motto "Leave the Fails to Others."

Four videos for four features

The story of the failures is being continued by Amag itself in a national online video campaign. The focus is on the four most important features of the new Golf: Mobile Key, Voice Control, Innovision Cockpit and IQ.Light.

SMS Newsletter

Prospective buyers could sign up for an SMS or email newsletter. The six text messages sent between December and January all begin with the same question: "Do you know this?" The resolution shows how the Golf can solve these typical everyday problems.

The Christmas card, which was written by handwriting robot Sophie, was developed by VW together with the Zurich agency KSP. The mixture of handwriting and new technology not only expresses the high level of appreciation for the pre-bookers, but also the great anticipation of starting a new era together with them next year.

Alongside the congratulations, the ad includes the question "Was it too easy, Tesla?" - with a big wink. Since the ID.3 was not yet on the ballot this year, the Tesla had a pretty easy time winning. So the ID.3 is now looking forward to next year's election.

The subject appears in the Swiss Illustrated and in the L'Illustré.

The new logo in a flat 2D look is clearer and reduced to its essential components. The brand identity and logo are aimed above all at high flexibility and digital applications. The realignment of Volkswagen's appearance is one of the world's largest brand rebrandings. The changeover is scheduled to be completed by mid-2020.

"The new brand identity marks the start of a new era for Volkswagen," says Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Brand Board of Management for Sales, Marketing and After Sales. "With the formulation of new content claims and new products, the brand is undergoing a profound transformation toward a balance-sheet emission-free future for all. Now is the right time to make our brand's new attitude visible to the outside world."

"New Volkswagen" is thus to become visible and tangible in the design of the vehicles, in customer contact and in the corporate image as a whole. The new image applies to both Volkswagen Passenger Cars and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Volkswagen Chief Designer Klaus Bischoff was instrumental in developing the new corporate identity: "With the new brand design, we have created an authentic communication platform to emotionalize electromobility. Under the motto 'digital first' and 'without filters', we are showing the Volkswagen of the future."

Jochen Sengpiehl, Chief Marketing Officer at Volkswagen, explains: "We have created a new, globally holistic brand experience on all channels and across all touchpoints. Basically, in the future it will no longer be about showing a perfect advertising world. We want to become more human and lively in our appearance, take the customer's perspective more strongly and tell authentic stories."

Volkswagen's symbol and trademark is the new logo. According to VW, it is intended to be more modern, clearer and simpler. Reduced to its essential components and in a new flat 2D look, it can be used flexibly and is excellently recognizable in digital media, according to a statement. Previously blue and white, the color palette will be expanded to include another shade of blue, allowing additional color variations in the future. As the digital application with simple and user-friendly interfaces has become enormously important, the logo will be flexibly positionable in the future with the new "moving frame".

The evolution of the Volkswagen logo since 1937.

Instead of a brand claim, Volkswagen is getting a sound logo for the first time, which will make the brand acoustically unmistakable in the vehicle and in communication in the future. The new brand image language is also very different from the way Volkswagen has presented itself to date - it will be bolder and more colorful. People are to move into the foreground. According to the relaunch announcement, the company wants to move away from perfectionism in vehicle photography. In the future, the focus will be on depicting realistic situations in which customers can see themselves.

Light is becoming the central element in communication, just as it is in vehicles. Light is the new chrome. The logo will shine in the future - on the vehicle, at the brand's locations, and at the dealerships.

The logo, "moving frame" and lighting will also play an important role at the trading stations to create a pleasant atmosphere. Overall, the effort for the dealers will be kept as low as possible. Thus, the interior of the dealerships will not be changed architecturally.

After decades of Volkswagen using a male voice in vehicles and advertising, the brand is now becoming female. In almost all markets, a woman will speak for Volkswagen with a warm, sympathetic and confident voice.

The strategic foundations of the new brand identity were not developed by external agencies, but by a joint team from Volkswagen Design and Marketing. Implementation involved all areas of the company - in a record time of nine months in a power house concept that Volkswagen developed specifically for this purpose. A total of 19 internal teams and 17 external agencies were involved.

The well-known and around the world popular VW Multivan is on the one hand timeless and on the other hand as versatile as life itself. For decades, the unparalleled flexibility of the iconic "Bulli" has been simply "perfect for family and leisure" - respectively the right thing for a life that is always on the move. Thus, the Multivan offers much more than simply a lot of space: Its space is extremely generous with up to seven comfortable seats, its use of space is flexible, the interior equipment is of high quality, the infotainment systems are state-of-the-art, the driver assistance systems are cutting-edge, the engines are extremely efficient and the selection of color combinations is uniquely large.

In order to communicate all these unbeatable advantages in a striking and entertaining way, ViznerBorel designed and implemented a bright and colorful video spot for the Multivan based on static images. The media planning for this was created by MediaCom, so that the spot could also be distributed in the appropriate formats. The focus was on extensive awareness and video placements, combined with the use of the video spots in Liquid Ads, various video ads (pre-roll, mobile video rectangle) and YouTube video ads. Animated online banners complement the video spot in an equally colorful, cheerful and lively way.

Responsible at VW Commercial Vehicles: Bruno Ueltschi (Head of Marketing VW Commercial Vehicles), Manuel Marchev (Team Leader Marketing Communication) and Benjamin Menzi (Digital Marketing Manager). Responsible at ViznerBorel: Lajos Vizner, Guillaume Borel (overall responsibility), Florian Steiner (art direction), Brigitte Meyer (consulting) and Simon Wick - DRASTIK (animation). Responsible at MediaCom: Ahmad Hoteit (Client Service Director), Niels Keil (Communication Planning Manager), Dominik Mönnighoff (Senior Digital Communication Planner / Consultant), Florian Hamer (Digital Communication Planning) and David Burow (Senior Communication Planner/Consultant).

Winter time is 4Motion-time. Because if you're heading for the mountains and want to drive over mountain passes and gondola parking lots without the hassle of snow chains, you've come to the right place. The new VW T-Roc and the new VW Golf 4Motion are for true ski stags and real snowmen. The poster campaign can be seen in ski resorts throughout Switzerland from November 2017 until the end of March 2018. Lucky who makes it there without snow chains thanks to 4Motion.

Responsible at Amag: Peter Schmid (Brand Director Volkswagen); Giselle Vaugne (Head of Marketing Volkswagen). Responsible at KSP Krieg Schlupp Partner: Benny Goldstein (creative director); Daniel Zehnder (text); Michelle Mancina, Florian Kech (graphics); Franziska Saxer (consulting management); Nina Stebler (consulting); Noemi Rubera (DTP); Carioca Studio at Visualeyes International (CGI); Craft367 (litho); Daniel Krieg (overall responsibility).

If we group together the presence of Audi, VW, Mercedes, BMW and Opel as examples, this results in almost 50 percent brand visibility on social media, forums and online news. The French and Japanese manufacturers, on the other hand, buy more than 75 percent of their brand presence through advertising channels.

Despite "Dieselgate," a study of the combined advertising and media presence of a total of 20 car brands in Switzerland shows unexciting values. The media presence refers to online media. Brand perception and tonality across different manufacturing countries shows hardly any differences. Even the relevant values for the VW brand appear to be just as unobjectionable in relation as for other brands.

The data come from the Brand Visibility Analysis from Media Focus. "Total Brand Visibility" links brand presence data from advertising, media coverage and consumer experience. The integral visibility of a brand is always placed in relation to the competition.

Header photo: Pixabay

On its 13th birthday on April 1, KSP Krieg Schlupp Partner published its third sustainability report. And for the first time, the agency has advanced into the green top group with 92 percent of all achievable points. This is thanks to the new partner audit, in which the agency's partners and suppliers are also certified, so that KSP can work with them to offer a certified value chain.

The first pilot project of this new partner auditing is a poster series that Agentur realized in cooperation with the first two certified partners Setaprint and APG|SGA for their customers VW, EWZ and Coop City.

According to the announcement, KSP is inviting further partners to become certified immediately and on an ongoing basis in order to allow the sustainable network to grow steadily. Responsible for the certification is still 2bdifferent, based in Speyer. The KSP Sustainability Report 2016 is now available on the new KSP website.