VW Shakes up Global Marketing and Pivots to Electric

VW has spent the last seven months reviewing its global ad strategy alighting on a regional approach amp160The switch to WPP displaces Interpublicamp8217s Deutsch which had been in place since 2009 amp160WPPamp8217s new team for VW will be called The VW Partnership amp160DDB loses the business in EuropeThe marketing changes come in the wake of a major pivot in product planning amp160In the wake of the Volkswagen diesel scandal Dr Herbert Diess Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG told the Geneva Motor Show audience in 2016 amp8220Volkswagen is changingamp8221 The cars he said amp8220will become younger more emotional and more excitingamp8221To an extent VW has fulfilled that pledge amp160With diesel in the doghouse a company that used to tout its superiority to electric mobility has dramatically changed its tune and is now fully committed to battery vehicles amp160amp8220Our future lies with electric mobilityamp8221 said VW of America CEO Scott Keogh at the justconcluded Los Angeles Auto Show amp160amp8220EVs will not kill our automotive funamp8221 amp160On the companyamp8217s stand was an electric cargo bike and a delivery version of the ID Buzz a rebirth of the famous Microbus that will be sold only with batteries starting in 2022Like all automakers VW is also committed to SUVs which are 46 percent of its sales amp160But unlike the Big Three automakers it is not largely abandoning regular passenger cars amp160Keogh told me that we will eventually see the sedan market rebound but not to the dominant position it once had amp160amp8220Weamp8217re going to stick with sedans but be smart about itamp8221 Keogh said amp160One probably savvy move was finally killing the poorselling Beetle the last one will be a 2019 model Final Edition Malibu convertible pictured at topWith all that as background MediaVillage posed some questions to Jim Zabel pictured below VWamp8217s Senior Vice President of MarketingJim Motavalliamp160 How does VW perceive the sedan market these daysJim Zabelamp160 It is true that the sedan market is shrinking but it is still a Top Five segment in the US amp160We remain committed to sedans and believe that you win with strong design reliability and consumerfocused technologyMotavalli amp160Are the automakers including VW ahead of consumers in offering electric carsZabelamp160 Just speaking for Volkswagen our offerings have been according to the demand amp160As that demand is growing so will our offering of electric vehiclesamp160 We will see the introduction of the first model from the allnew ID family coming to market in early 2020 amp160And that will be followed by many more modelsMotavalliamp160 Do you have a profile of the average VW buyer amp160Income amp160Demographics amp160I realize the product portfolio is diverseZabelamp160 The current VW newcar buyer is roughly splitamp16055 percent male45 percent female amp160The mean age is 52 years old with 33 percent of the customer base falling between the ages of 20 and 44 amp160In the past year as the portfolio has expanded the SUV offering we have grown to roughly 30 percent of customer households with children and 50 percent living in suburban communities amp160Income wise 48 percent of consumers have a household income of 100000 or lessMotavalliamp160 What is VWamp8217s strategy with TV and radio advertisingZabelamp160 Given TVamp8217s reach it is still an important part of our media mixamp160 However we donamp8217t think of it as only linear TVamp160 We look at reaching our target through a video strategy that is inclusive of linear streaming services OTT media distributed directly to consumers via the Internet and online branded contentMotavalliamp160 How does the public perceive VW now amp160Scott Keogh said at the LA Show amp8220Trust needs to be earned amp160The rest is just talkamp8221 amp160What is the company doing to earn back that trust in the wake of the diesel scandalZabelamp160 We need to deliver vehicles Americans want at the right time and at the right price amp160We believe customers have responded since so far we are outperforming the market in the US with sales up 54 percent through October compared to total market growth of 02 percent amp160That continues the trend from last year where sales gained more than five percent in 2017 when much of the market was downMotavalliamp160 Could China become a more important market for VW than the US amp160You had record sales there in 2017 up 59 percent to 318 million including more than 400000 SUVs Zabelamp160 China is certainly an important market for VW but we want to grow in the US and become a relevant volume brand with a full line of cars and SUVs amp160We planned roughly 7 billion in investments in the region from 2015 through 2019 and have recently pledged an additional 33 billion through 2020 amp160Roughly 12 billion of those investments will be directly going to the US marketClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

VW Shakes up Global Marketing and Pivots to Electric

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Jim Motavalli

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

VW Shakes up Global Marketing and Pivots to Electric

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Jim Motavalli

Cookies