Volkswagen India’s Abbey Thomas on making a swift switch from model communication to brand communication

Abbey Thomas gives insights on how Volkswagen is repositioning its communication by showcasing realism and targeting young consumers.

Over a decade ago, Volkswagen entered the Indian market when a few established automobile companies like Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, and more had captured 50-80% of the market share. To compete with the giants, the brand positioned itself as a high-end aspirational brand, focusing on the engineering bit of the products.  

 During this time the brand heavily invested in print as its primary mode of advertising.

‘Talking Newspaper campaign’ was one such campaign that stood out for the brand. 

In 2020, the brand took a step towards reshaping the brand identity to better fit the masses and took a vibrant and youthful approach, said Abbey Thomas,  Head of Marketing & PR, Volkswagen India. 

He added, “With the new repositioning, the brand was able to bring back more human connect into the communication.” 

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To further take this conversation ahead, the brand has in the past focused on expanding its product portfolio by launching compact SUVs and Sedan models to attract more young and aspirational consumers. 

Taking this one step ahead, Volkswagen launched its latest campaign titled ‘You’re in a Volkswagen’. This campaign highlights the Volkswagen experience – the moments experienced by their customers in their cars by targeting consumers’ emotions rather than taking a functional approach, which is often seen in automobile advertising. 

Talking about the campaign and its themes, Thomas said, “It's not just about attitude but also about the reality. The core theme of the campaign revolves around the concept that a Volkswagen is not just a machine to own, but a vehicle designed to be driven and experienced.”

The campaign is conceptualised by the DDB Mudra Group. Talking about the core objective behind it, Mehak Jaini, National Strategy Head, 22feet Tribal Worldwide and Vice President Strategy, DDB Mudra Group said, “We are taking a brand like Volkswagen to the masses.”

She added, "With  India 2.0, the brand had a perfect vision for its products. In order to take the next leap and attract the next set of consumers, we needed to talk about the brand. While the category always focuses on model communication, the emotional resonance of a brand is what actually drives purchase intent. Therefore, there was a conscious effort by the client and the agency to make a swift switch from model communication to brand communication.”

Going Beyond the Metros

The campaign is being distributed across mediums, taking a 360-degree approach. Apart from going all out on print and TV, the brand will also focus on going big on OOH. 

Thomas said, “Outdoor advertising is extremely critical for targeting tier II and tier III cities. Our studies found that unlike in the cities, people in smaller cities actually notice these ads.”

Digital mediums will play an important role in this campaign as well. Thomas noted that back in the COVID days, the brand invested 50% of its ad spends on digital. Now it stands at 30-40%. 

Thomas further mentioned that to attract a larger audience, the brand is going to tap into regional languages as well. 

As the brand moves beyond its robust and ‘engineered’ avatar, the brand is focusing on what the audience wants. Thomas said, “It's not about just selling a product, but it's also about selling a lifestyle.”