MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: Ever heard of a product talking to the readers in its print advert? Well, this is exactly what Volkswagen‘s latest variant Vento does in the 21 September editions of The Times Of India and The Hindu: it lends a voice to a medium that has none.
In its newest marketing attempt to introduce its premium entry level sedan in India, Volkswagen has taken the aid of the talking newspapers to reach out to its potential buyers.
Volkswagen has partnered with the TOI and The Hindu for a nationwide communication strategy wherein whenever the reader opens the newspaper, a voice speaks to him about the car manufacturer‘s latest variant in India. A light-sensitive chip is attached to the page announcing the arrival of a perfectly engineered car by Volkswagen.
Says Volkswagen Group Sales India head marketing Lutz Kothe, "With this campaign, our aim was to get the awareness of prospective customers for our new Vento launch and drive traffic to our dealers‘ showroom. This approach has converted a static medium to a dynamic one. The idea directly co-relates to one of our brand propositions which is innovation."
According to Kothe, the idea is based on musical greeting cards which have been given life in the form of a talking newspaper along with the partners Mediacom who took care of the right positioning and DDB Mudra who developed the creative concept.
Elaborating on the creative concept of talking paper, Mudra Group chief creative officer Bobby Pawar says, "Volkswagen is a brand that is about innovation for everyone. That applies to everything, even the advertising. This innovation came from the idea of giving the passion of the engineers who build the Vento a voice in a medium that has none. Our instinct said that it would be super cool to have a talking print advert and believed that if we were excited by the idea other people will as well."
Adds DDB India president Rajiv Sabnis, "Volkswagen India believes in bringing innovation to the masses and this belief extends beyond the products they create, into everything they do. DDB Mudra believes that creativity is the most powerful force in business that creates TalkValue, influences social communities and drives results. The Volkswagen Vento talking newspaper ad in Times of India/ Hindu, is a confluence of these beliefs. It is one of the most discussed and blogged topics and the most searched subject amongst the online community. So it wasn‘t just the ad that did the talking but got its readers talking about it too!"
Volkswagen currently offers the Jetta and Passat, assembled in Aurangabad for the Indian consumers. Also available on sale is the New Beetle, the SUV Touareg, the Phaeton, the Polo and now the Vento.
The company will soon launch a 360 degree campaign for the Vento based upon its positioning ‘Best in Class.‘
When asked about the marketing challenges that India poses to the product category, Kothe says, "We believe India is "incredible". Lot of ideas/innovation that would seem impossible in other markets can be done here in India. This country provides incredible opportunities to steer the brand in the right direction."
Not to forget, it was sometime back when Volkswagen had captivated the readers of India‘s largest daily, The Times of India, with its ‘roadblock‘ and the Volkswagen Polo ‘Hole-in-the-paper‘ campaigns.
For the first time ever, a newspaper was blocked on a nationwide scale by a single advertiser across 16 editions. A total of 6.86 million readers were introduced to Volkswagen. Volkswagen was the No.1 searched term on Google India soon after the roadblock.
To launch its premium hatchback, Polo, Volkswagen had cut-outs in the shape of the car at the top of every page of The Times of India and a distinct feature of the car was detailed on each page.
