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In 1949, William Bernbach, along with colleague Ned Doyle and Maxwell Dane, formed Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), the advertising agency that would create the revolutionary ] ad campaigns of the 1950s and 1960s. Bernbach’s artistic approach to print advertising was innovative, and he understood that advertising didn’t sell products. The strategy was to try to keep customers, creating and nurturing “brand ambassadors” rather than attract the attention of those who were uninterested in the product. Bernbach’s team of “agency creatives” was headed by Helmut Krone, who pioneered the idea of simplicity in print advertisements. His repeated use of actual photographs as opposed to the embellished illustrations of competing agencies spawned comfortably consistent, yet unique print ads that met DDB’s goal of stark departure from the current advertisement techniques (Robinson, 72). Because Volkswagen’s ad budget in 1960 was only $800,000 (McLeod, 32) DDB’s bare-bones, black-and-white approach, coupled with a projected common theme of irreverence, fit Wolfsburg’s needs well. Each Volkswagen ad was designed to be so complete that it could stand alone as a viable advertisement even without addressing all aspects of the car, and research by The Starch Company showed that Volkswagen advertisements had higher reader scores than editorial pieces in many magazines, a sign of the campaign’s runaway success, as Volkswagen’s advertisements often didn’t even include a slogan or logo.
Throughout its history, the German automotive company ] has applied myriad advertising methods.


==History==
References:
In 1949, ], along with colleagues, Ned Doyle and Maxwell Dane, formed ] (DDB), the ] ] that would create the revolutionary ] ad campaigns of the 1950s, as well as the 1960s.


Bernbach's artistic approach to print advertising was innovative, and he understood that advertising did not sell products. The strategy was to keep customers by creating and nurturing them as ''brand ambassadors'', rather than attempting to attract the attention of those who were uninterested in the product. Bernbach's team of "agency creatives" was headed by Bob Gage, who hired ], as an art director in 1954. Krone owned a Volkswagen before the agency pitched for the account. Krone, Bernbach and the first copywriter on the account, Julian Koenig, were impressed with the "honesty" of the car. Krone was an intellectual among art directors—seeking ways to lay out an ad campaign to stand-in for the product itself. He took the simple, straightforward layouts of agency principal ] of ] and adapted them for Volkswagen. Krone's repeated use of black-and-white, largely unretouched photographs for Volkswagen (as opposed to the embellished illustrations used traditionally by competing agencies), coupled with Bob Gage's bold work for ], spawned consistently witty and unique print ads that met DDB's goal of making a stark departure from existing advertisement techniques.<ref>Robinson 1996, p.72</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Challis|first=Clive|title=Helmut Krone. The book.|year=2005|publisher=Cambridge Enchorial Press|location=Cambridge, UK|isbn=0-9548931-0-7|pages=45–102, 252|url=http://www.enchorial.com}}</ref>
Robinson, Graham. Volkswagen Chronicle. Lincolnwood: Publications International, Ltd, 1996.


The corporate headquarters and factory that produced Volkswagens was located in ]. Because Volkswagen's advertising budget in 1960 was only $800,000,<ref>McLeod 1999, p. 32</ref> DDB’s bare-bones, black-and-white approach, coupled with a projected common theme of irreverence and humor, fit Wolfsburg's needs well. Each Volkswagen ad was designed to be so complete that it could stand alone as a viable advertisement, even without addressing all aspects of the automobile. Many of the ads deliberately highlighted, or made fun of the Volkswagen's perceived shortcomings and turned them into attributes.
McLeod, Kate. Beetlemania: The Story of the Car that Captured the Hearts of Millions. New York: Smithmark Publishers, 1999.


Taken as a sign of the campaign's runaway success, research by the Starch Company showed that these Volkswagen advertisements had higher reader scores than editorial pieces in many publications, noting that Volkswagen advertisements often did not even include a ] and had a very subdued ]. (Krone did not believe in logos, and there is some evidence that their inclusion followed a disagreement with the client.) The Volkswagen series of advertisements (which included the 1959 "]" ad) were voted the No. 1 campaign of all time in '']''{{'}}s 1999 ''The Century of Advertising''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.weshow.com/top10/en/advertising/top-10-best-american-advertising-campaigns-of-the-20th-century |title=Top 10 Best American Advertising Campaigns of the 20th Century15Aug08 |access-date=13 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081013104509/http://www.weshow.com/top10/en/advertising/top-10-best-american-advertising-campaigns-of-the-20th-century |archive-date=13 October 2008}}</ref>
Reichert, Nikolaus, and Hans Joachim Klersy. VW Beetle: An Illustrated History. Sparkford, England: J.H. Haynes & Co Ltd, 1986.

Following the success of "Think Small", the advertisement titled "Lemon" left a lasting legacy in America—use of the word "Lemon" to describe poor quality cars.<ref>{{cite web|title=TOP 100 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS OF THE CENTURY|url=http://adage.com/century/campaigns.html|publisher=Ad Age}}</ref> The "Lemon" campaign introduced a famous tagline, "We pluck the lemons, you get the plums."<ref>{{cite web|title=Break the rules|date=17 December 2008|url=http://blog.asmartbear.com/breaking-the-rules.html}}</ref>

===Fahrvergnügen===
'''''Fahrvergnügen''''' ({{IPA|de|ˈfaːɐ̯fɛɐ̯ˌɡnyːɡn̩}}) ({{Audio|GT Fahrvergnügen 2.ogg|listen}}) was an ] slogan used by ] in a 1990 U.S. ] that included a ] driving a Volkswagen car.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/gazette/access/246672631.html?dids=246672631:246672631&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+23%2C+1991&author=Stories+by+Debbie+Warhola&pub=Colorado+Springs+Gazette&desc=FAHRVERGNUGEN+%2F+Volkswagen%27s+concept+strategy&pqatl=google|title=FAHRVERGNUGEN / Volkswagen's concept strategy|last=Warhola|first=Debbie|date=23 August 1991|work=Colorado Springs Gazette|pages=G1|access-date=28 February 2010}}{{dead link|date=July 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} </ref> The word was coined by Urs Baur, a young Swiss art director, working at DDB Needham at the time, in response to Chairman Emeritus DBB Worldwide Keith Reinhard's search for a word to express the unique feeling one would experience driving a Volkswagen. Volkswagens at the time were technologically inferior to most of their key competitors, both in features and reliability, but owners consistently expressed an emotional connection to the VW brand. After launch of the campaign the word took off, crossing over into popular culture where it was widely parodied, including by late night hosts like ], in cartoons like ], and by followers of the ], who created the popular "Fukengrüven" bumper sticker. The campaign was widely credited as a turnaround for Volkswagen sales in the US, and it saved the account for DDB Needham before this historic agency-client relationship finally came to an end a few years later.

"Fahrvergnügen" means "driving enjoyment" (from ''fahren'', "to drive," and ''Vergnügen'', "enjoyment"). The term itself is, in a strict sense, a ] and was created especially for this advertising campaign. ], though, frequently creates compound nouns like that on the fly. One of the tag lines incorporating the word was: "Fahrvergnügen: It's what makes a car a Volkswagen".

==See also==
*]
*]
*]
*]

==References and sources==
; References
{{reflist}}

; Sources
*{{cite book
|last = McLeod
|first = Kate
|title = Beetlemania: The Story of the Car That Captured the Hearts of Millions
|publisher = Smithmark Publishers
|year = 1999
|location = New York
|isbn = 0-7651-1018-0
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Reichert
|first = Nikolaus
|author2 = Hans Joachim Klersy
|title = VW Beetle: An Illustrated History
|publisher = J. H. Haynes & Co Ltd
|year = 1987
|location = Sparkford, England
|isbn = 0-85429-591-7
|url-access = registration
|url = https://archive.org/details/vwbeetleillustra0000reic
}}
*{{cite book
|last = Robinson
|first = Graham
|title = Volkswagen Chronicle
|publisher = Publications International, Ltd
|year = 1996
|location = Lincolnwood
|isbn = 0-7853-1599-3
}}

==Further reading==
* Marcantonio, Alfredo & David Abbott. ''"Remember those great Volkswagen ads?"'' London: Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1993. {{ISBN|1-873968-12-4}}
* Imseng, Dominik. ''Think small: The story of the world's greatest ad''. Full Stop Press, 2011. {{ISBN|978-3-033-02852-4}}

{{VW}}

]
]

Latest revision as of 10:14, 13 November 2024

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (May 2021)

Throughout its history, the German automotive company Volkswagen has applied myriad advertising methods.

History

In 1949, William Bernbach, along with colleagues, Ned Doyle and Maxwell Dane, formed Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB), the Manhattan advertising agency that would create the revolutionary Volkswagen ad campaigns of the 1950s, as well as the 1960s.

Bernbach's artistic approach to print advertising was innovative, and he understood that advertising did not sell products. The strategy was to keep customers by creating and nurturing them as brand ambassadors, rather than attempting to attract the attention of those who were uninterested in the product. Bernbach's team of "agency creatives" was headed by Bob Gage, who hired Helmut Krone, as an art director in 1954. Krone owned a Volkswagen before the agency pitched for the account. Krone, Bernbach and the first copywriter on the account, Julian Koenig, were impressed with the "honesty" of the car. Krone was an intellectual among art directors—seeking ways to lay out an ad campaign to stand-in for the product itself. He took the simple, straightforward layouts of agency principal David Ogilvy of Ogilvy and Mather and adapted them for Volkswagen. Krone's repeated use of black-and-white, largely unretouched photographs for Volkswagen (as opposed to the embellished illustrations used traditionally by competing agencies), coupled with Bob Gage's bold work for Ohrbach's, spawned consistently witty and unique print ads that met DDB's goal of making a stark departure from existing advertisement techniques.

The corporate headquarters and factory that produced Volkswagens was located in Wolfsburg, Germany. Because Volkswagen's advertising budget in 1960 was only $800,000, DDB’s bare-bones, black-and-white approach, coupled with a projected common theme of irreverence and humor, fit Wolfsburg's needs well. Each Volkswagen ad was designed to be so complete that it could stand alone as a viable advertisement, even without addressing all aspects of the automobile. Many of the ads deliberately highlighted, or made fun of the Volkswagen's perceived shortcomings and turned them into attributes.

Taken as a sign of the campaign's runaway success, research by the Starch Company showed that these Volkswagen advertisements had higher reader scores than editorial pieces in many publications, noting that Volkswagen advertisements often did not even include a slogan and had a very subdued logo. (Krone did not believe in logos, and there is some evidence that their inclusion followed a disagreement with the client.) The Volkswagen series of advertisements (which included the 1959 "Think Small" ad) were voted the No. 1 campaign of all time in Advertising Age's 1999 The Century of Advertising.

Following the success of "Think Small", the advertisement titled "Lemon" left a lasting legacy in America—use of the word "Lemon" to describe poor quality cars. The "Lemon" campaign introduced a famous tagline, "We pluck the lemons, you get the plums."

Fahrvergnügen

Fahrvergnügen (German pronunciation: [ˈfaːɐ̯fɛɐ̯ˌɡnyːɡn̩]) (listen) was an advertising slogan used by Volkswagen in a 1990 U.S. ad campaign that included a stick figure driving a Volkswagen car. The word was coined by Urs Baur, a young Swiss art director, working at DDB Needham at the time, in response to Chairman Emeritus DBB Worldwide Keith Reinhard's search for a word to express the unique feeling one would experience driving a Volkswagen. Volkswagens at the time were technologically inferior to most of their key competitors, both in features and reliability, but owners consistently expressed an emotional connection to the VW brand. After launch of the campaign the word took off, crossing over into popular culture where it was widely parodied, including by late night hosts like David Letterman, in cartoons like Doonesbury, and by followers of the Grateful Dead, who created the popular "Fukengrüven" bumper sticker. The campaign was widely credited as a turnaround for Volkswagen sales in the US, and it saved the account for DDB Needham before this historic agency-client relationship finally came to an end a few years later.

"Fahrvergnügen" means "driving enjoyment" (from fahren, "to drive," and Vergnügen, "enjoyment"). The term itself is, in a strict sense, a neologism and was created especially for this advertising campaign. German, though, frequently creates compound nouns like that on the fly. One of the tag lines incorporating the word was: "Fahrvergnügen: It's what makes a car a Volkswagen".

See also

References and sources

References
  1. Robinson 1996, p.72
  2. Challis, Clive (2005). Helmut Krone. The book. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Enchorial Press. pp. 45–102, 252. ISBN 0-9548931-0-7.
  3. McLeod 1999, p. 32
  4. "Top 10 Best American Advertising Campaigns of the 20th Century15Aug08". Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 13 April 2012.
  5. "TOP 100 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS OF THE CENTURY". Ad Age.
  6. "Break the rules". 17 December 2008.
  7. Warhola, Debbie (23 August 1991). "FAHRVERGNUGEN / Volkswagen's concept strategy". Colorado Springs Gazette. pp. G1. Retrieved 28 February 2010.
Sources

Further reading

  • Marcantonio, Alfredo & David Abbott. "Remember those great Volkswagen ads?" London: Booth-Clibborn Editions, 1993. ISBN 1-873968-12-4
  • Imseng, Dominik. Think small: The story of the world's greatest ad. Full Stop Press, 2011. ISBN 978-3-033-02852-4
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