Following the news that FCB has lost the Volkswagen account to DDB and Paper Plus to Contagion, the agency has said goodbye to a large number of staff.
Browsing: Volkswagen
Round of applause to Volkswagen, Flick Electric Co., VTNZ, Kiwibank and Gem.
Volkswagen has released a new spot via FCB that shows New Zealand hockey captain Simon Child toying with the features of his Golf GTI after arriving to the hockey turf a little early. This spot follows on from VW’s recent pulled ad, which invited criticism for showing unsafe practices. And while the new spot doesn’t show any slipping and falling, it does tread into risky territory by focusing on the speed of the new vehicle.
Following the news that Volkswagen New Zealand was set to part ways with its agency of around two years, Colenso BBDO, and the recent discovery of dodgy software that cheated on emissions tests, FCB New Zealand has been handed the creative business—and been given a pretty big challenge to help the brand win back people’s trust.
When it comes to corporations, history shows that consumers tend to forgive accidents—and even stupidity. But willful deception is another kettle of fish. And Volkswagen inventing technology to cheat on its emissions tests is about as willful and deceptive as it gets (if it wasn’t so evil, you could almost applaud their inventiveness). So far, it has had a major impact on Volkswagen’s share price (and other car brands’ share prices), it is getting ready for a recall of 11 million cars, billions of dollars in fines are on the cards and the first of what could be many lawsuits have already been filed. Some believe it could bring Volkswagen to its knees. So can the company recover from this reputational car crash? And what can marketers learn from the saga?
The marketing world is keen on vending machine stunts, with stunts allowing them to accept everything from hugs to Canadian passports to piano playing to motionlessness (this trend was skewered nicely by Taxi). Now, in an effort to tackle pollution, Volkswagen has created one that accepts batteries instead of currency in Russia.
Now, if we had seen an ad, say 10 years ago that said “don’t selfie and drive” no one would have had a clue what that was about. But with new technology (and front-facing cameras) comes new dangers, and now Volkswagen has released a campaign which aims to stop drivers taking selfies while on the road.
DDB’s ads for Volkswagen back in the 1960s are regarded as some of the best ever made, as evidenced by Think Small’s first place on Ad Age’s top 100 campaigns of the last century. And, as this parody called ‘nine ways to improve an ad’ from 1963 shows, it pays to remember that simplicity is still the best approach.
There’s no better way to celebrate centuries of oppressive colonialism than with a series of sporting contests. Thankfully, we’ve got the Commonwealth Games for that. And while they might not be quite as prestigious (or popular) as the Olympics, official broadcaster Sky TV and NZ Olympic Committee sponsor ANZ are doing all they can to draw attention to the upcoming Glasgow games.
Not long after one seemingly solid agency-client partnership came to an end when 2degrees shifted from TBWA\ to Special, another seemingly solid agency-client partnership is also up in the air, with Volkswagen putting its business up for pitch. Plus: Hyundai’s recent move.
Volkswagen hit a speed bump this year when it voluntarily (with the help of a bit of media pressure) recalled more than 2,500 cars due to reliability issues. However, it’s another type of recall which has got the German car manufacturer’s motor running.
As part of our push to remind you marcomms folk to get your entries in for the 2013 TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards (entries close 5pm Friday 24 May), we’re asking some past winners to tell us about their glorious victory, what it meant to the business and why these awards are different. Hello there Denise Goodwin, ex-Volkswagen marketing chief and now head of marketing at Flooring Brands.
Dow Design is on a mission to prove the commercial value of good design. And with a win in the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards for Fonterra, a finalist in the new Best Effect Award for Hellers, a number of big redesigns for big FMCG brands, it seems to be doing a good job of it. Founder Annie Dow and business development director Jenny McMillan speak their piece.
While Volkswagen dominates overseas, research showed that Kiwis thought the brand was too cold, too bland and too European. So to change that, it invested heavily in indigenous research and advertising, launched some very successful new products and quickly went from ‘niche street to main street’. National marketing manager Denise Goodwin opines on the year that was.
We’ll be showcasing all the winners of the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards on StopPress over the coming days. And we’re kicking things off with big winner Volkswagen, which invested heavily in indigenous research and advertising to better connect the brand with Kiwis, launched some very successful new products and quickly went from ‘niche street to main street’.
2012 marks the 21st anniversary of the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards. And, in keeping with the traditions of the land, it emerged into adulthood this year with a new central theme of Everything Marketing and eight new categories, including financial, technology, automotive, utilities/communications, lifestyle/travel/leisure and sponsorship. And coming out at the head of the field with the supreme award was Volkswagen, with ex-Westpac and soon-to-be BNZ head of brand Ian Moody named as marketer of the year, Whittaker’s Jasmine Griffin named as rookie marketer of the year, Air New Zealand taking the marketing excellence award and Pfizer, Z Energy and Red Witch both picking up multiple awards.
Skinny welcomes a new Paul, Jo Hartley trades OMD for Carat, Studio Alexander appoints a general manager, Acumen Republic ups its events firepower, Volkswagen goes human hunting, and iStart and Software Shortlist get together to embrace the pay-per-lead model.
Volkswagen announces a new leiter, TVNZ celebrates 25 years of Maori and Pacific programming, Boundary Road Brewery completes its global genius search, Waitemata shines on and Saatchi Sydney swallows Plankton.
Not too long ago, Volkswagen was seen by Kiwis as a brand that was too expensive, too Germanic and too standoffish. So the European car maker set about changing that and, with the help of DDB NZ, it’s been making some serious inroads into the Kiwi market, with the 2011 results achieving records for both its passenger and commercial vehicles. Now the pair are hoping to continue the upward trajectory with a new series of ‘the same, but different’ TVCs running in the pre-weather spot on ONE News.
Lucky seven, God’s in heaven, one little crutch, a David Beckham, one hockey stick, a slice of heaven. There, 7 ways to say seven, with out mentioning dwarves once. Why? Well seven’s obviously the lucky number for Spark PR & Activate, as they start the New Year with a seventh brand new client, Weight Watchers NZ. The win tops off a hugely successful 2011 for the Auckland-based agency. In recent months, Spark PR & Activate has also been appointed as PR agency for Electrolux Cookware and Laundry, Dermalogica NZ, boutique stationery store Red Letter Day and Mambo apparel.
Despite continuing media fragmentation and the rise of digital, TV remains the undoubted glamourpuss of advertising. And the boffins on the Film jury at Cannes, an awards ceremony widely regarded as the gold standard for the creative industries, chose what they deemed to be the best TV ads in the world recently. So here they are, in all their glory.
Get your physics hat on for this week’s TVC
Who’s it for: Volkswagen by DDB and Robber’s Dog
Why we like it: As Volkswagen seeks to deliver its first ever ute into the New Zealand market, and with Toyota the dominant player in the market …
And the fresh TV work keeps on coming, with a new cerebral/agrarian spot for Volkswagen’s first ever ute, V takes street art to a new level with the help of Humpty Dumpty, Mitsubishi speaks the car-related, localised truth and Cirkus Animation’s TVC for Vietnamese stationery brand Thien Long.
DDB, Sky and Capital City Films’ ‘Leafblower’ spot took home the most metal of any TVC on the night, with a gold in the single television commercial category adding to its impressive haul. DDB also picked up a silver for Lotto’s ‘Lucky Dog’ (which has over 750,000 views on YouTube) and a bronze for Volkswagen’s ‘Milk Run’; Colenso picked up a silver for Vodafone’s ‘Double Back’ spot and a bronze for Frucor’s ‘Ladders’; and Saatchi & Saatchi picked up a bronze for Telecom’s ‘Sunrise, Sunset’.
DDB NZ is making a name for itself for breaking the international rules. In a good way, of course: first it was Freida the dancing bovine, the first Glass and a Half Full production that didn’t come out of London. And now it’s another piece of milk-related work for Volkswagen.
In this week’s installment, Monsieur Pound wonders whether recycled ads in this year’s Cannes Lions are an indication of declining creativity, immoral agencies or unobservant organisers. And he also looks at the similarities between Good Health magazine’s viral video and a similar Volkswagen experiment conducted in Sweden.
Twenty three of New Zealand’s top footballers received some good news this week when the All Whites squad was named to play at the Football World Cup in South Africa. And the sport as a whole also got some good news after Volkswagen signed on as a major partner of football in New Zealand.