ICM Creative Communications - Showing posts tagged with 'Cars'

Wednesday, April 1st 2009

Creative Insight: Volkswagen Advertising

As some of you may know I’m a bit fanatical about my Volkswagens, having owned a 1966 Beetle, a 1983 Golf GTi, a 1983 Campervan, a Lupo GTi, and now a modern Transporter van. VW fans are often brought-up in families, my father had Volkswagens and my memories of these cars are very strong. Brand loyalty within a family is often a brand of reliability and affordability. It wasn’t until I ventured into the world of Graphic Design did I begin to take an interest in the early advertising for Volkswagen.

1960’s America adored Volkswagen advertising, and with good reason. In an age of glorified announcements of size, power, and prestige, 1960s Volkswagen advertising was the calm voice for a different set of values. Plus, it made you smile: the magic formula that today’s ad agencies persistently strive for. This understated style was introduced in 1959 by New York ad agency Doyle Dane Bernbach.

In a world of horsepower, styling and the hard-sell of an American dream, Volkswagen advertisements were pockets of blindingly simple wit that extolled the cars’ virtues with affable self-ridicule. ‘Live Below Your Means,’ was the advice of one ad, ‘Think Small,’ exclaimed another.

‘Lemon’ was probably the stand-out ad that defined the era. Supporting copy told the story of how the car, at first glance perfectly acceptable, had failed Volkswagen’s rigorous quality checks.

America couldn’t help but love a company willing to mock itself in public, and no one responded more to the Volkswagen or its advertising than the ‘baby-boomer’ generation; children of postwar affluence that came of age in the 1960s embraced the Volkswagen as a show of rejection their previous generation’s materialism. Besides, Volkswagens were cheap to buy and run, and they were easily fixed. Most of these kids probably didn’t realise the Beetle was born of war, but it didn’t matter.

The love-affair was all-too brief. Though Volkswagen increased sales throughout the 1960s to hold its status as America’s top-selling foreign make, its share of the import-car market withered from 67 percent in 1965 to a less than impressive 51 percent by decade’s end. The nails in the coffin were driven by Toyota and Datsun who offered the next generation of ‘small-car’ luxury, styling and affordability that Volkswagen couldn’t compete with for another decade until the first Golf (Rabbit in the US) would arrive on the scene.

For almost five decades Volkswagen have continued with clever wit and simple humour that still appeals to the latest generation of Volkswagen owners, occasionally reverting to the original DDB format to sell their vehicles.