Friday, July 18, 2014

EOC: Week 1 Volkswagen Lemon Ad


Lemon? Why Would Volkswagen call their own vehicle a lemon? This famous car ad captured the attention of millions of people and create a whole new revolution for advertising. This ad had everything; it's funny, persuasive, and connects to the consumers. Volkswagen knew the Beetle wasn't the cutest car on the block, but the car had value & lots of it. It was more expensive to buy new then competitors cars, but the car held its worth. A used Beetle was still more expensive than the others out there. That says something. For the rest of the decade VW kept their unconventional ad campaign rolling. Unafraid to do full-page advertisements featuring their Beetle from many years back (their design hardly changed in 10 years), Beetles floating in water (the unique design was almost water tight), and touting how their car was often the cheapest to buy new and the most costly to buy used. Their game of turning seeming faults into benefits was a major hit, and left the other car companies so far in the dust they never really caught up. But why Lemon? Volkswagen too lots of time and effort into making sure everything was perfect before they shipped them out to lots. In their "Lemon" campaign, a shiny new looking Beetle appeared on the page. Nothing looked wrong with it. The text underneath the picture stated that "The chrome strip on the glove compartment is blemished and must be replaced. Chances are you wouldn't have noticed it; Inspector Kurt Kroner did." At the time, there was a team dedicated to say "NO". They observed every flaw and imperfection and refused to let the car go any further. Because of Volkswagens process of analyzing and advertising, the Beetle has stuck with Americans and has improved in every way possible. “We pluck the lemons, you get the plums”.



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