The Times of India creates print roadblock for Volkswagen brands
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The Times of India creates print roadblock for Volkswagen brands
Campaign India Team, 11 November, 2009
Mumbai
The Times of India has created a print roadblock for Volkswagen across its edition today. The roadblock includes a spread of Volkswagen's various brands Jetta, Passat and Touareg (which is slated for a December launch in India) in the country. The print campaign looks at creating awareness about Volkswagen's German technology and the company's history.
Lutz Kothe, chief general manager marketing and PR, Volkswagen India, said, “Based on a clear brand strategy, Volkswagen is known for its cutting-edge advertising across the world. Our powerful and creative campaigns continue to have a special place in the consumer’s mind through decades. With our first Brand Campaign in India we have strived to achieve the same for our consumers here and are confident that they will take to it.’
He added, "Our aim has been to break away from the communication clutter by being innovative and refreshing with the way we narrate our brand story to the customer."
The company has said that the idea was to co-create a single-engagement proposition for Volkswagen, in order to create a huge impact. This is the first time there has been a print roadblock by a single brand in The Times of India's edition.
The media agency that has created the roadblock is MediaCom.
Divya Gururaj, managing director, MediaCom said, "India is a significant growth market for Volkswagen and our objective was to establish a base for the launch of the VW marquee brands like the Beetle, Touareg and others. Given the iconic status of VW, we had to do this on a scale and with a bang. The VW brand campaign launches today with an innovation in The Times of India. Given the scale of the innovation, we are hoping to get consumers and opinion leaders to start talking about our cars, even before they hit the market."
I would like to term this a 'Mindblock'... If this is whats gonna come out of great minds... greater agencies and greatest brands then GOODLUCK!!!!!!!!!!!
This would have received more appreciation if the same was for mid size/mid priced cars.
For a cars like the ones of VW which are awaiting lauch,you neednot advertise the above way since the class of such buyers is already loyal to standout brands like Merc,BMW,Audi etc.
Guys, Like it or leave it!! it's certainly got the attention it was looking for..
if not innovative or refreshing, it's certainly brought out what a waste of money it was on such an activity.. and wht we always do, comment and move on..
nothing against print, but with that kinda money, we could paint all the towns with volkswagen messages on billboards and any other OOH mediums so that all the "folks" in their "wagons" big or small could see what brand visibility is all about..
ciao
Honestly. The problem with few Indian is if you ask them to comment they will comment irrespective of knowledge, experience and understanding of the objective.
They comment not as if they have alternative solution, but they think there comments will make them expert on the subject.
As briefed given to agency
The company objective is to showcase the German history of making good car apart from four new launch in India, out of which Touareg and beettel has yet to launched. the jetta cost 13 to 16 lakh, passat cost 23 lac to 24 lac.
Besides, this company is taking pain and effort to correlate their brand name to Indian consumer hence you had the first half page advertisement. It's not Volkswagen. It’s Volkswagen. how many of you know it is pronounce as "folks wagen" folks mean people and wagen means car.
if you go through advertisment ,companies is trying to show its commitment to indian customer since they have also showing their plant photo.
After this huge noise with right tg . it will be easier for the company to launch the bettle and Touareg .
The high end car are sold on various parameter among which image building is one.This is image building exxersie.The company is not into grocery product. They need to first target early adpoter
Times cover mumbai,delhi,banglore,Ahmedabad,chennai catering to high strata of society.
Considering the current objective it is write startegy. if you are selling 20lac above car were the hell you
@Chirag - What good work??? the fact that they spent 8-9 crs on half the edition??? or the fact that they pasted the papers with ads of cars, factories and machines and expected us to appreciate the "creativity". ROTF lol
@muktaL - Its quite subjective. Maybe it hurt when it should have. Almost anything is offensive if you have the power of the delete button. Having said that, I apologize.
@mediacom - Feel free to contact me if you need any help with brains for advertising
y r people cribbing so much abt this innovation..i know its pain for the competitive newspapers as didnt get their pie...but it takes something to spend 8-9 cr in a day...
I see people getting defensive here. Look its an eye sore. And you have got the verdict. If that's what you wanted, bravo, you've succeeded. @mediacom It says a lot about your creativity when you buy half the newspaper ......paste factory machines, cars and buildings and expect people to like it.
@muktaL - i am sure you work for mediacom. No offence.
In advertising its not about how much you are going to spend to get noticed, its how much brand is worth the next day, and if you have succeeded in doing that, then it is money well spent. The post ad brand recall as we call it in advertising, is a very important factor in deciding what and how the communication must reach the TA. If VW has done a Roadblock it is not the first time, it has been done to death by many brands not in India but in many other countries worldwide, it is one the proven ways to get noticed and talked about, in our today's clutter of ad messages, and this sets the tone for the brand, and what is going to come from them next. This is a global brand, and in times of recession it is markets like India that are their only hope, so why shouldn't they spend, good for TOI good for India. They are doing the right thing. It will definitely get them the desired WoM and the cost per thousand will be well worth if you consider the number of people that have talked about it today... and will continue to talk for days to come. If he/she is in the market for an entry level car I am sure this will put the brand on the consideration list. thats what advertising is suppose to do in today's times, bring people into showrooms asking for it. For those who are not convinced about what they have done... think about how many ads/brands do you remember from today's morning newspaper, leave alone the message. Thumbs up from my side to all those behind the campaign... though not an original thought, but it did the job. At times, its better to give the proven prescription than to try a new one... these are the times.
All the critics here i feel as if they too wanted the space for their brand & couldn get that n now the are talking ill here about volkswagen....today too it differentiated itself from other brands...it needs power to do it that ways...hats off to the creative thinking lets do this way....this is how we would flood indian market...simply volkswagen...
cheers!!!
Sunil
TOI has never been an editorial driven newspaper. It's just a money making machine. Considering that one is not surprised by this `Roadblock' initiative they have taken up now. At the end of the day, it's money that matters and TOI, I am sure, will go any extend, to make money. The content of their Chennai edition is pathetically poor. It's nowhere near `The Hindu'. In fact I have stopped subscribing the newspaper after sampling it for a few months.
Road rage, now that's something VW should have concentrated on keeping in mind India's road etiquttes. What a waste of money, really. And they haven't even launched VW polo, which will be a make or break car for them. If they continue with outlandish spends, imagine how many VW euros are waiting to be burned when it is launched. The only things that should be allowed to burn is the rubber of the car, in which case they will make more money in after sales
see sales is not the only thing you should SEE..its good that a common man can now understand what Volkswagen is..we should understand the wide TG newspaper caters. Not every common man will go to showrooms or check website to get the updates on the specs..its like fine if its really now everywhere in my paper lets read it what it is. Not a brilliant thinking but yes the efforts have not gone waste in total.
The news paper is used for reaching millions of people, while VW would be bought by very privileged thousands.
Details of car, brand, specifications, models is available on the internet.
Expenses like these are what get added to the cost of cars, cost of newspapers and add to further expenses - promotions, bonuses to the people who created the Advertisement !!!
Advertisements like these require Trees to be chopped and Water to be consumed, Recycling to be increased, .....Just an unending list of Damage to the Environment.
Please Introspect and put brakes on such activities.
The list of messages above shows that VW and Mediacom succeded in their plan. Whatever may be the thing this will create a flutter in the market and that will be beneficial for the Brand. The Strategy will definitely work in mammoth publicity but never know whether all this will show the road to the Showroom or Next year we will see the roadblock to the target.
where's the cutting edge advertising in this. when readers hardly read news, how do they expect to read words and words on VW? Ifs an effing eye-sore. thats how it looks.
innovation-? there is no radical thought, it isnt a new way at all here.
good work, good execution(only people would not understand it means coordinating with 16 editions), just easy to say eyesore. thought it was really refreshing, and big bang from a big brand. way to go VW. welcome to india where every one loves to flaunt their money, ask our delhi wallahs if you dont believe. three cheers to mediacom for achieving the impossible. impossible!! whats that!!
Its indeed very impressive that Volkswagen has given its advertisement in such a splendid manner.Awesome indeed!According to their work they are following standards...
After reading the TOI this morning this sounds seriously funny: "Our aim has been to break away from the communication clutter by being innovative and refreshing with the way we narrate our brand story to the customer."
Dammit I was force-fed! I have always admired VW for their ads. Not this time. Don't know why everything changes when it reaches India.
The Roadblock advertisement is a little too flamboyant and screams, "See I'm an expensive Ad!"
More than capturing reader's mind on the launch of VW in India, and its German Technology, the Ad captured our astonishment on the excessive money spent by VW, and the colossal financial benefit it causes to The Times Of India. Heights!!
What a humongous waste of money it was this morning! Page after page of eyesore - all of it worth INR 7 crores. I see that the 'people's car' has wasted a huge amount of people's money right at the beginning of its journey in India. What happened to the charming iconic communication that the iconic brand is so well known for?
Blatant misuse of print media. Was it the print media which is much touted as 4th estate we were looking at or an eyesore in form of a Hugh roadside billboard we were looking at? Money can't always buy class... specially something classy as an Volkswagen!!!!!
I am back you see there was recession. And suddenly saw this colossal waste of money on the most expensive piece of print real estate in India. Only Mudra could have launched an iconic brand like "Foxwagon" (there is half a page of block in the roadblock devoted on how to pronounce Volkswagen). Keep it Mudra, glad to know things havent changed.
buying a huge space, that on an expensive price doesn't mean you roadblocked audience' mind.
Its like a single person littering at his will in a huge farmhouse on rent.
Me thinks its a sheer waste of money. The money which my guess would be in a couple of crores could have been put to a much better use than publishing in just one newspaper and hoping that other readers will ( not subscribers of TOI read through DUPLICATION). From a readership prespective the newspaper has good readership in only two markets namely Mumbai and Delhi vis a vis the other papers including languages as well. Finally this is not an innovation,( these kind of things have been done before) but show of money only.
Cheers
What an eyesore this was. A 'roadblock'is the right way to put it as there's no getting around this blatant brand display - advertorial ishtyle. Wish one got to see some classic VW advertising instead of this tripe.
waiting
i am impressed with the plant, came to know beetle is coming to india, and i am waiting for it.
no wonder why they r
no wonder why they r shutting plants across the globe...
its time they start spending judiciously n try reviving the sales of their cars in india.
no wonder why they r
no wonder why they r shutting plants across the globe...
its time they start spending judiciously n try reviving the sales of their cars in india.
no wonder why they r
no wonder why they r shutting plants across the globe...
its time they start spending judiciously n try reviving the sales of their cars in india.
no wonder why they r
no wonder why they r shutting plants across the globe...
its time they start spending judiciously n try reviving the sales of their cars in india.
no wonder why they r
no wonder why they r shutting plants across the globe...
its time they start spending judiciously n try reviving the sales off their cars in india.
Mindblock.. Ooooppss .. Roadblock
I would like to term this a 'Mindblock'... If this is whats gonna come out of great minds... greater agencies and greatest brands then GOODLUCK!!!!!!!!!!!
headlines or deadline
With such a head line is there any money left for innovation ?
Has any1 read all that crap.........
The creative was as interesting as a History book..keep up the boring torture campaign vw.....
Too much money!!! Too little brains...!
Over 40 crores wasted away, if they were used to give away VW cars for free, they would have met their sales targets for next 2 years...
VW road block
This would have received more appreciation if the same was for mid size/mid priced cars.
For a cars like the ones of VW which are awaiting lauch,you neednot advertise the above way since the class of such buyers is already loyal to standout brands like Merc,BMW,Audi etc.
RoAdBlOcK!!
Guys, Like it or leave it!! it's certainly got the attention it was looking for..
if not innovative or refreshing, it's certainly brought out what a waste of money it was on such an activity.. and wht we always do, comment and move on..
nothing against print, but with that kinda money, we could paint all the towns with volkswagen messages on billboards and any other OOH mediums so that all the "folks" in their "wagons" big or small could see what brand visibility is all about..
ciao
for the people , who think i know it all
Honestly. The problem with few Indian is if you ask them to comment they will comment irrespective of knowledge, experience and understanding of the objective.
They comment not as if they have alternative solution, but they think there comments will make them expert on the subject.
As briefed given to agency
The company objective is to showcase the German history of making good car apart from four new launch in India, out of which Touareg and beettel has yet to launched. the jetta cost 13 to 16 lakh, passat cost 23 lac to 24 lac.
Besides, this company is taking pain and effort to correlate their brand name to Indian consumer hence you had the first half page advertisement. It's not Volkswagen. It’s Volkswagen. how many of you know it is pronounce as "folks wagen" folks mean people and wagen means car.
if you go through advertisment ,companies is trying to show its commitment to indian customer since they have also showing their plant photo.
After this huge noise with right tg . it will be easier for the company to launch the bettle and Touareg .
The high end car are sold on various parameter among which image building is one.This is image building exxersie.The company is not into grocery product. They need to first target early adpoter
Times cover mumbai,delhi,banglore,Ahmedabad,chennai catering to high strata of society.
Considering the current objective it is write startegy. if you are selling 20lac above car were the hell you
will go about selling it.......................
Regards
Sandeep Kambli
WHAT GOOD WORK!!!
@Chirag - What good work??? the fact that they spent 8-9 crs on half the edition??? or the fact that they pasted the papers with ads of cars, factories and machines and expected us to appreciate the "creativity". ROTF lol
@muktaL - Its quite subjective. Maybe it hurt when it should have. Almost anything is offensive if you have the power of the delete button. Having said that, I apologize.
@mediacom - Feel free to contact me if you need any help with brains for advertising
cribbing
y r people cribbing so much abt this innovation..i know its pain for the competitive newspapers as didnt get their pie...but it takes something to spend 8-9 cr in a day...
common stop cribbing and appreciate some gud work
No prizes for guessing why my comment was deleted
I see people getting defensive here. Look its an eye sore. And you have got the verdict. If that's what you wanted, bravo, you've succeeded. @mediacom It says a lot about your creativity when you buy half the newspaper ......paste factory machines, cars and buildings and expect people to like it.
@muktaL - i am sure you work for mediacom. No offence.
@ Ishmart Alec, No, I don't
@ Ishmart Alec,
No, I don't work for MediaCom. I work for Campaign India. We didn't have a problem with your view at all, but the language. Hence, the deletion.
more mileage for VW
In advertising its not about how much you are going to spend to get noticed, its how much brand is worth the next day, and if you have succeeded in doing that, then it is money well spent. The post ad brand recall as we call it in advertising, is a very important factor in deciding what and how the communication must reach the TA. If VW has done a Roadblock it is not the first time, it has been done to death by many brands not in India but in many other countries worldwide, it is one the proven ways to get noticed and talked about, in our today's clutter of ad messages, and this sets the tone for the brand, and what is going to come from them next. This is a global brand, and in times of recession it is markets like India that are their only hope, so why shouldn't they spend, good for TOI good for India. They are doing the right thing. It will definitely get them the desired WoM and the cost per thousand will be well worth if you consider the number of people that have talked about it today... and will continue to talk for days to come. If he/she is in the market for an entry level car I am sure this will put the brand on the consideration list. thats what advertising is suppose to do in today's times, bring people into showrooms asking for it. For those who are not convinced about what they have done... think about how many ads/brands do you remember from today's morning newspaper, leave alone the message. Thumbs up from my side to all those behind the campaign... though not an original thought, but it did the job. At times, its better to give the proven prescription than to try a new one... these are the times.
For all the negative commentators
All the critics here i feel as if they too wanted the space for their brand & couldn get that n now the are talking ill here about volkswagen....today too it differentiated itself from other brands...it needs power to do it that ways...hats off to the creative thinking lets do this way....this is how we would flood indian market...simply volkswagen...
cheers!!!
Sunil
TOI has never been an editorial driven newspaper
TOI has never been an editorial driven newspaper. It's just a money making machine. Considering that one is not surprised by this `Roadblock' initiative they have taken up now. At the end of the day, it's money that matters and TOI, I am sure, will go any extend, to make money. The content of their Chennai edition is pathetically poor. It's nowhere near `The Hindu'. In fact I have stopped subscribing the newspaper after sampling it for a few months.
Weather block
Even the rains are are angry with the kind of expenditure by VW.
Road Rage
Road rage, now that's something VW should have concentrated on keeping in mind India's road etiquttes. What a waste of money, really. And they haven't even launched VW polo, which will be a make or break car for them. If they continue with outlandish spends, imagine how many VW euros are waiting to be burned when it is launched. The only things that should be allowed to burn is the rubber of the car, in which case they will make more money in after sales
efforts not gone waste in totality..
see sales is not the only thing you should SEE..its good that a common man can now understand what Volkswagen is..we should understand the wide TG newspaper caters. Not every common man will go to showrooms or check website to get the updates on the specs..its like fine if its really now everywhere in my paper lets read it what it is. Not a brilliant thinking but yes the efforts have not gone waste in total.
Out-Of-Place Expensive Advertisement
The news paper is used for reaching millions of people, while VW would be bought by very privileged thousands.
Details of car, brand, specifications, models is available on the internet.
Expenses like these are what get added to the cost of cars, cost of newspapers and add to further expenses - promotions, bonuses to the people who created the Advertisement !!!
Advertisements like these require Trees to be chopped and Water to be consumed, Recycling to be increased, .....Just an unending list of Damage to the Environment.
Please Introspect and put brakes on such activities.
Road talk
The list of messages above shows that VW and Mediacom succeded in their plan. Whatever may be the thing this will create a flutter in the market and that will be beneficial for the Brand. The Strategy will definitely work in mammoth publicity but never know whether all this will show the road to the Showroom or Next year we will see the roadblock to the target.
cutting edge advertising
where's the cutting edge advertising in this. when readers hardly read news, how do they expect to read words and words on VW? Ifs an effing eye-sore. thats how it looks.
innovation-? there is no radical thought, it isnt a new way at all here.
spare a thought for the reader-who does anyway
roadblock
good work, good execution(only people would not understand it means coordinating with 16 editions), just easy to say eyesore. thought it was really refreshing, and big bang from a big brand. way to go VW. welcome to india where every one loves to flaunt their money, ask our delhi wallahs if you dont believe. three cheers to mediacom for achieving the impossible. impossible!! whats that!!
Volkswagen on heights
Its indeed very impressive that Volkswagen has given its advertisement in such a splendid manner.Awesome indeed!According to their work they are following standards...
Joke of the Day!
After reading the TOI this morning this sounds seriously funny: "Our aim has been to break away from the communication clutter by being innovative and refreshing with the way we narrate our brand story to the customer."
Dammit I was force-fed! I have always admired VW for their ads. Not this time. Don't know why everything changes when it reaches India.
Colossal Financial Gain to TOI!!
The Roadblock advertisement is a little too flamboyant and screams, "See I'm an expensive Ad!"
More than capturing reader's mind on the launch of VW in India, and its German Technology, the Ad captured our astonishment on the excessive money spent by VW, and the colossal financial benefit it causes to The Times Of India. Heights!!
Quite a waste, wasn't it?
What a humongous waste of money it was this morning! Page after page of eyesore - all of it worth INR 7 crores. I see that the 'people's car' has wasted a huge amount of people's money right at the beginning of its journey in India. What happened to the charming iconic communication that the iconic brand is so well known for?
Volkswagen advt. in TOI.
Blatant misuse of print media. Was it the print media which is much touted as 4th estate we were looking at or an eyesore in form of a Hugh roadside billboard we were looking at? Money can't always buy class... specially something classy as an Volkswagen!!!!!
Roadblock
I am back you see there was recession. And suddenly saw this colossal waste of money on the most expensive piece of print real estate in India. Only Mudra could have launched an iconic brand like "Foxwagon" (there is half a page of block in the roadblock devoted on how to pronounce Volkswagen). Keep it Mudra, glad to know things havent changed.
RoAdBlOcK!!
Neither innovative nor refreshing. Seemed more of an eyesore to me. Was it really worth the buck spent??
Expected way better from Mediacom & Volkswagen given the iconic status of the brand & the creative ppl at the agency
roadblock is what
buying a huge space, that on an expensive price doesn't mean you roadblocked audience' mind.
Its like a single person littering at his will in a huge farmhouse on rent.
VW
Me thinks its a sheer waste of money. The money which my guess would be in a couple of crores could have been put to a much better use than publishing in just one newspaper and hoping that other readers will ( not subscribers of TOI read through DUPLICATION). From a readership prespective the newspaper has good readership in only two markets namely Mumbai and Delhi vis a vis the other papers including languages as well. Finally this is not an innovation,( these kind of things have been done before) but show of money only.
Cheers
good work by mediacom. three
good work by mediacom. three cheers divya ji
Yet another raodblock ! ( ok
Yet another raodblock ! ( ok .. even if it is a little rare in print) and yet another bad execution!
Comment on road block
TOI can do anything for making money. Editorial! What editorial?????????
Roadblock rubbish
What an eyesore this was. A 'roadblock'is the right way to put it as there's no getting around this blatant brand display - advertorial ishtyle. Wish one got to see some classic VW advertising instead of this tripe.
the headline should read:
the headline should read: volkswagen creates editorial roadblock for TOI. Its a shame
@ Ishmart Alec
Your comment has been deleted, as it was deemed offensive.
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