From my in-house career, before I founded White Cloud. Like all in-house work, this was a team effort. I led this as Head of Marketing, working with the Volkswagen New Zealand marketing team and our creative agency.
- Company: Volkswagen New Zealand (European Motor Distributors)
- My role: Head of Marketing, Volkswagen New Zealand
- Year: 2019 campaign, Effie in 2020
- Headline result: Brand consideration up from 9% to 15%, the highest since tracking began in 2010 (2019 brand tracking research, TRA). Bronze Effie 2020, Consumer Durables.
The situation
In 2019, Volkswagen in New Zealand had a likeability problem. Brand perceptions were negative, and the business needed people to feel differently about the brand, not just know more about the cars.
What I found
Short-term product advertising would not fix how people felt. The brand needed long-term brand building, and that meant convincing the people around the table to invest in it.
What we did
- Youngest Brother, a national brand campaign built on emotional storytelling, and Volkswagen New Zealand’s first brand ad in five years
- A long-term brand building plan, rather than one more product push
- Persistent work with different stakeholders to make the case for investing in brand growth
What changed
- Brand consideration reached 15% in 2019, up from 9% the year before, and the highest point since tracking began in 2010 (2019 Brand Tracking Research, TRA)
- Bronze Effie Award 2020, Consumer Durables. Volkswagen was the only automotive brand to win an award at the 2020 Effies (Effie Awards Aotearoa results)
Bringing the brand to life at Fieldays
Fieldays is New Zealand’s biggest agricultural event, and Volkswagen has been part of it since 2010. Our goal was to welcome and delight over 2,500 customers, the most guests hosted by any of the event’s 1,000-plus exhibitors.
- Fieldays 2018: a record year, with 103 new cars sold over the four days (Volkswagen New Zealand sales)
- Fieldays 2019: Best Motor Vehicle Precinct Site award
Then, a new brand design
Straight after the campaign, I led the roll-out of Volkswagen’s new brand design in New Zealand. That meant the cars, every piece of marketing online and offline, a new website, and the signage across the dealer network.
The new website went live on schedule, just as Covid hit.
What I learned
The campaign was a story of persistence as much as creativity. The hardest part was not the idea. It was getting people to invest in something that pays back over years, not weeks.