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(5 votes, average: 3.60 out of 5)
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“I commence my mornings with Times of India. I almost never have time to read the myriad ads scattered hither and thither on the pages. That morning was no different. I didn’t as much as glance at the last page as I opened my daily newspaper. But I was rooted on the spot by what I heard. I was pretty sure I was hallucinating. The newspaper obviously didn’t just speak to me! I sceptically turned to the last page to reassure myself that I hadn’t lost it. And there I saw it; delicately embedded on the page was a little black box. I was at first in denial, then surprised and then amazed as I held the world’s first talking advertisement in print!”
On September 21, 2010, Volkswagen redefined advertising. The latest innovation done by DDB Mudra is being touted as the world’s first talking newspaper. If their idea was to create a buzz about the product, they sure did pull it off with style. Volkswagen Vento was introduced with creativity and intelligence in India. The media planning operations were managed by Mediacom, one of the world’s leading media agencies.
From the innovators’ desk…
Lutz Kothe, Head of Marketing and PR, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India Pvt Ltd, said, ‘The advertisement has created a great amount of curiosity about the car in the market. I think a campaign like this has been attempted for the first time in the world and it took people completely by surprise. We received huge enquiries for the car at dealerships. I do not think we went over the top with the campaign as our target was to create interest for the car”
Lutz Kothe added that the idea of a talking ad was given to him by his fourteen year old niece, Beatrix Madersbacher.
Bobby Pawar, Chief Creative Officer, Mudra Group, said, “The idea came from the fact that there is a lot of passion that goes into the making of Volkswagen Vento, hence the thought of parting with it becomes difficult for the engineers who make the machine. We thought of giving these engineers a voice.”
Mixed Reactions…
Readers of the two English dailies, The Hindu and The Times of India, in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Pune and Chennai were surprised by this unusual campaign. Five crore rupees is believed to have gone into the making of twenty two lakh chips. While some readers were amused, some fretted and reported a bomb alert to nearby police stations.
Avinash Siravuru, an engineer from VITU said “I wanted to open that thing and see what’s in it. When I came to know each machine cost only around six bucks, I bowed to their idea!”
The little box which gave voice to the ad said “Best in class German engineering is here. The new Volkswagen Vento. Built with great care and highly innovative features, perhaps that’s why it breaks the hearts of our engineers to watch it drive away. The new Volkswagen Vento, crafted with so much passion, it’s hard to let it go. Volkswagen. Das Auto.”
However, the concept could have been put to better use, had they availed this opportunity to elucidate on the features of the car and provide more information on the product.
Deepashri Varadarajan
(5 votes, average: 3.60 out of 5) Loading ...
Thats innovative…