2. “How will Volkswagen sell 1 million cars
a year in the U.S.?”
-Los Angeles Times
-
3. German Ideas, American Power
“This is the most transparent and competitive market
in the world, bar none. That's what makes the
opportunity of growth as great as it is. If you do the
right things and have good products, word gets out in
the marketplace.”
-Johnathan Browning, CEO
10. “Fiscal year 2010 was the most successful year
in the Volkswagen Group's history.”
- Martin Winterkorn,
Chairman of Management Board at Volkswagen AG
Notes de l'éditeur
Volkswagen AG is compromised of two divisions: an automotive division involved in the production and sale of passenger and commercial vehicles, and a financial division that deals with dealer and customer financing, leasing, banking, etc. –Mergent Online Database Volkswagen of America is what I chose to focus on. Their financial division is Volkswagen Credit Inc., a, “captive finance company, responsible for managing the retail, sales, and leases of vehicles.” –Volkswagen of America employee
Goal: Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, has been told by Volkswagen AG that he needs to be selling 1 million Audis and Volkswagens in America by 2018. Challenges: product quality, customer and sales satisfactionStrengths: new American factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., strong brand portfolio
Overarching theme: German Ideas, American Power. Want to get word out on the marketplace that Volkswagen may be a German company, but it still provides American jobs with its power plant and call center
The campaign for German Ideas, American Power, will be a scavenger hunt to win a car. To win, contestants can participate in a nationwide hunt that will take place in certain cities around the country and each participant will have an equal opportunity to win. When a contestant has found a clue, they must create a video and upload it to Youtube. All the hints will also reached as Youtube videos uploaded weekly for a total for 1.5 months, or 6 weeks. The hints will be related to Volkswagen and highlight their history in America, customer service, and safety features, etc.Volkswagen has a history in American culture, the Beetle and VW van are iconic. They were owned by famous stars like Janis Joplin and used in movies like Little Miss Sunshine. By using this rich history as part of the scavenger hunt, it will play off the company's strength of brand portfolio.
Volkswagen has always had a good handle of social media, such as with the Fanwagen campaign. The campaign was created to give one lucky Facebook user either a Volkswagen van or beetle fitted with Facebook features such as a news feed, relationship status, and poke button. For the German Ideas, American Power campaign, we’ll use social media such as Facebook and Twitter to promote the scavenger hunt by posting the hint videos to the Volkswagen Twitter account and Facebook and also posting/retweeting the funniest contestant videos.
Public Relations – After the winner has found their car, they will be taken to the Chattanooga plant for a free tour and an opportunity to drive any Volkswagen car of their choice. The event will be publicized and posted on Volkswagen’s blog(s) by public relation managers of Volkswagen. Miss Helga would be the spokeswoman for the event.
Promotions- use promotions in the cities chosen- make fliers, use outdoor advertising like billboards and other low-key yet extensive advertising in the cities chosen. Even include tee-shirts and other promotional materials that the contestants could win by participating.
Google Ad words buy them, use them, make sure SEO
Sales, have sales of Volkswagen car in America gone up? Google metrics, where is Volkswagen in Google searches? -Volkswagen -German Ideas, American Power
Automobile sales from 2005-10 show a consistent dip in sales between September-December and a peak in sales between May-August. To increase sales, the scavenger hunt will take place in the fall.