L.A. agency wins VW ad account

Deutsch LA, the West Coast office of ad agency Deutsch Inc., has won Volkswagen’s coveted U.S. advertising account.

Deutsch LA replaces Crispin Porter + Bogusky of Miami, which had handled VW’s U.S. advertising since 2005.

The size of the account wasn't disclosed. TNS Media Intelligence reported that VW spent $204 million on U.S. advertising last year.

That spending is almost sure to increase as the German automaker tries to make inroads into the U.S. market, where it currently holds a meager 2% market share (General Motors sold more cars in the U.S. in September alone than VW sold here in the first nine months of the year.)

“The clear intention of the company is to be No. 1 globally,” said Tim Ellis, VW’s head of U.S. marketing, “and the United States plays into that strategy in a big way.”

That strategy will include an aggressive advertising campaign that cuts across all manner of media platforms, from TV to social networking sites to mobile phones.

Volkswagen immediately becomes Deutsch LA’s biggest account, joining the likes of Sony PlayStation, DirecTV and Dr Pepper in the agency’s stable.

“This is beyond big,” agency co-CEO Mike Sheldon said. “Opportunities like this come around once in a career.”

Sheldon said the VW account will likely result in the addition of 100 new people at the agency’s 300-person Marina del Rey offices.

Sheldon said his agency plans to broaden VW’s appeal beyond its current base of hip twenty-somethings while still maintaining an aura of cool around the brand. The agency’s first work on behalf of its new client should begin appearing sometime in the first quarter of 2010, he added.

Deutsch, it should be noted, is German for “German.” Whether the agency’s VW campaign features the Teutonic accents and lingo that have plagued the automaker’s ads for years remains to be seen. Here's betting they lose the lederhosen.

-- Martin Zimmerman

Volkswagen brings the fun: Giant piano stairs and other ‘Fun Theory’ marketing

If stairs played musical notes when you walked on them, would you be more likely to take them?

The video of people skipping the escalator in favor of composing music on the piano stairs of Odenplan subway station in Stockholm, Sweden, has been viewed more than 2.5 million times on YouTube. (Watch it above in the embedded player.)

The video is part of a new viral marketing campaign called “The Fun Theory.” The concept, created by Volkswagen Sweden and ad agency DDB Stockholm, is based on the idea that “fun is the easiest way to change people’s behavior for the better.”

Another campaign video shows people picking up trash off the ground in a park just to hear “The World’s Deepest Bin,” a regular trash can wired with motion-activated depth sound effects.

The goal with these fun, do-good videos is to promote VW’s new environmentally friendly BlueMotionTechnologies brand in an increasingly more competitive eco-car market.

“As traditional advertising is becoming less effective, and the competition in the market for environmentally sound cars is becoming more fierce, we believed we needed a more innovative approach to draw attention to BlueMotion,” DDB Stockholm deputy manager Lars Axelsson said in an e-mail.

Ford commercials give center stage to Ford owners

As far as American automakers go, Ford seems to be our country’s darling at the moment. No surprise really - the company has, after all, effectively distanced itself from government bailouts. It’s also making smart decisions by producing better cars like the Fusion and bringing European favorites, such as the Transit Van and upcoming Fiesta, our way.

To highlight their latest and greatest products – as well as some established successes – Ford has produced 15-second commercial spots during which real drivers talk about their favorite parts of their Ford vehicle. Jonathan loves the SYNC system; Paul’s hands don’t smell like gasoline thanks to his Ford’s capless fuel filler.

Depicting real people -- real, young people, that is -- enjoying their cars makes a statement very different than what we’ve seen from General Motors. It’s a tactic that the company hopes will speak to Ford owners and in-market shoppers alike.

“We didn’t want to get bogged down in one message,” says Mark Schirmer of Ford Communications. "It was just about letting people talk about their car. It’s straightforward and honest.”

The quickie ads, already on YouTube, will air on television before and after main commercial segments starting Monday.

-- Alison Lakin

Alison Lakin is a staff writer at DriverSide.com.

With few new cars, Ford sells green image

In the auto business, there are few challenges tougher than marketing a brand that has few new cars to promote. No matter how good the current product, consumers like to see the latest stuff.

That's the conundrum at Ford Motor Co., which after a solid run of product launches now faces a roughly six month gap without a significant new rollout.

The last 12 months at the Blue Oval have been an advertiser's dream, with introductions of the Taurus full-size sedan, the Transit Connect van, the new Fusion and Mercury Milan mid-size sedans, the 2010 Mustang and the redesigned F-150 pickup.

The product barrage has helped Ford's sales fare far better than most other automakers in a tough economy, and its share of the U.S. market has grown to 14.7%, compared with 12.1% a year ago, according to Autodata Corp.

But with the exception of the commercially oriented Super Duty truck coming in March, Ford won't have a new car to crow about until the second quarter of next year, when the subcompact Fiesta arrives in the U.S., followed by Explorer and Focus launches later in the year.

For now, with competitors like Toyota Motor Corp. and General Motors Co. ramping up their advertising efforts with major campaigns in coming months, that means Ford has to get pretty creative when it comes to marketing in this dry season.

"We definitely have some space to fill," said Matt VanDyke, Ford's director of marketing communications.

He's overseeing the automaker's new advertising campaign, which begins Monday. An extension of the "Drive One" campaign, it will attempt to attract buyers without being able to rely on tried and true pictures of brand-new vehicles.

Instead, the automaker will focus its campaign on customers, with advertising that features real Ford drivers as well as digital forays into Facebook and the like. It will also strive to appeal to what could be the auto industry's most important stakeholder: the federal government.

GM's new ad campaign turns off some viewers

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General Motors Co., desperate to reinvent itself after exiting bankruptcy two months ago, has taken on a new advertising strategy: bragging.

In the last month or so, GM has declared Buick "the new class of world class," and that when compared with the competition, GM wins "simple as that."

For GM, a major turnaround certainly won't happen overnight. Unlike Ford Motor Co., GM doesn’t have a massive foreign market of fuel-efficient, interesting cars to reinvent itself with. And although the Chevy Volt and Spark will hit showrooms fairly soon, making new models takes time and U.S. taxpayers want to see fast results from their multibillion-dollar investment. 

GM's new commercials follow the thinking that the Detroit automaker currently makes world-class cars that can hold their own against its foreign rivals, and that only the company's marketing has fallen short. 

Don't think it’s all empty talk, though. In one TV commercial, new GM Chairman (and admitted non-car guy) Ed Whitacre announces a plan for a 60-day money-back guarantee for all GM cars. "May the best car win," he proudly proclaims.

Reaction to the commercial has been mixed. Some say they found the commercial to be disgusting and arrogant; others see it as a sign that GM is turning over a new leaf.

What do you think? Watch the commercial above and share your thoughts in the comments section. Is this arrogant bragging from an inferior company or is the new GM simply trying to break an old stigma?

-- J. Mark Sternberg

Angelenos tone down searches for high-end cars

Can't spring for a brand-new Bentley? The new Lambo just out of your reach? How about that convertible you've always dreamed of? Turns out Angelenos are cutting back on their research of new exotic cars and may be settling for late-model Rolls Royces, Maseratis and Ferraris, according to a leading automotive website.

Internet searches from Los Angeles-area consumers for ultra-luxury “exotic” new cars have started to drop, while searches for used exotics have risen, reports AutoTrader.com.

In July, Angelenos' searches for exotic cars fell to 3.5% of all new-car searches on AutoTrader.com from 8.5% in January, while searches for used exotics in July rose to 2.5% from 1.5% in January.

Angelenos continue to search at nearly double the national rate for traditional luxury brands such as BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Saab, Cadillac and Lexus. These models made up 30% of searches locally compared with 16% nationally in July. For used luxury models, the figures are 34% versus 22%.

Can a bankrupt Chrysler sell a "bright future?"

In an effort to turn around the minds of headline-reading consumers, Chrysler will launch a national  television and print campaign next week airing on prime-time shows including NBC’s "30 Rock" and "The Office."

One of the five television spots will be a corporate ad called “Bright Future” that covers a whole lot of ground in a very short 30 seconds:

The spot communicates that Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge…

...are forming an alliance with Fiat to produce smaller, more efficient cars
...are building cars you want like Chrysler 300, Dodge Challenger and Chrysler Town & Country
...are restructuring the organization to be lean and competitive
...have the best warranty, backed by the U.S. government
...are building electric vehicles.

The main message, Chrysler spokesman Scott Brown says, is that although Chrysler is making headlines for bankruptcy and dealership closings, it’s really just “business as usual.” Brown says that the stigma of bankruptcy is different from what it once was -- that people don't think of it in the same negative way these days. “We firmly believe that when people get a great product -- the right car, the right package at the right time, they’ll start buying those cars.”

Ford's 'American Idol' music videos continue, despite challenges

The economic downturn and some unfortunate marketing research following last year's "American Idol" season didn't discourage Ford from creating more American Idol music videos/commercials this season. The first one airs during the "American Idol" broadcast on Wednesday night.

Amid harrowing times for the Detroit Three, tightening advertising budgets have not yet forced Ford to bail from its 10-season, reported $25-million-plus sponsorship deal with Fox's "American Idol" show.

This despite the negative press that sprung up at season end last year, sparked by an Advertising Age article by author Martin Lindstrom citing a “neuromarketing” research study.

The study, which measures brain activity of consumers while watching advertising messages, showed a positive impact for both AT&T and Coke brand messaging on "Idol," but Ford got a negative score. The reason cited was that the automaker's music videos seemed like random interruptions to the show.

“Coke and AT&T were integrated within the flow of the show, but Ford’s impressions lacked a clear purpose,” Lindstrom wrote. He claimed that if the products were created as a part of the story line of the show, consumers would accept it. If not, consumers' brains would simply erase the information.

For the eighth year, Ford and its ad agency will produce a batch of custom music videos –- Ford insists they not be called commercials -– featuring each of the post-elimination contestants each week. Who can forget last year’s “Matador” music video, in which eventual Idol winner David Cook donned shiny bullfighter tights for the sake of the Ford Mustang and the "Idol" sponsorship contract? 

There are still questions as yet unanswered by Ford. What will this year’s contestants have to wear? Will the millions of viewing brains out there reject Ford’s product placement, or will they grow more endeared to the struggling American brand? We’ll find out –- right after the break.

-- Joni Gray

Related story: American Idol Daily: King Cook

Photos: This season's top 13 American Idol finalists, credit: Chris Pizzello / Associated Press; last season's Ford "Matador" video, credit: Fox

And the Oscar goes to . . . Hyundai?

“Slumdog Millionaire” wasn’t the only underdog to score big at the Academy Awards last night.

South Korean automaker Hyundai, which took over this year from General Motors as the award show’s auto sponsor, is seeing a significant jump in interest among visitors to Edmunds.com, the Santa Monica-based online vehicle information site.

Visits to Hyundai pages on Edmunds.com are up 27% compared with the same period last week, and traffic to pages featuring the Genesis — the upscale sedan featured in one of the ads — are up 86%. Hyundai said traffic on its own website doubled Sunday compared with the previous weekend. (German automaker Audi also got a boost from its Oscar ads, Edmunds.com reported, with traffic up 26%.)

Hyundai, known for its emphasis on value, hasn’t exactly had a high profile in the U.S. market. Indeed, one of its ads even makes a point of making sure car buyers know how to pronounce its name (rhymes with “Sunday”).

But that’s beginning to change as the economy tanks and low-priced cars gain in popularity. In January, Hyundai was one of only three car companies — along with Kia and Subaru — that notched a year-over-year sales gain.

Granted, by the time Oscar day rolled around, “Slumdog” was an odds-on favorite to win. But it wasn’t so long ago that the film was without a distributor and in danger of going straight to video.

Hyundai upped its Q score dramatically with its Innovative Assurance Plus program, which allows buyers to return a new Hyundai within a year of purchase if they lose their jobs. Hyundai recently sweetened the program by pledging to make payments for 90 days while the owner looks for work.

The automaker, which has been trying to move out of the shadow of the big Japanese automakers and also go after higher-end consumers, also is making a splash with the Genesis, which took “car of the year” honors at the Detroit auto show next month.

“This is proof that when you have a powerful message, television advertising still works,” Edmunds.com CEO Jeremy Anwyl said....

Gay car site gets unwanted "Yes on 8" ads

Gaywheels.com, a website aimed at gay car buyers, said the ad space on its home page was "hijacked" today by supporters of Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that would ban same-sex marriage in California.

Joe LaMuraglia, publisher of the New Jersey-based website, was in Tennessee this afternoon when he found out that folks in California who went to www.gaywheels.com were being greeted with a page festooned with "Yes on 8" ads.

"We are very upset about this and apologize to any site visitors from the state of California that might have been offended by the ads," LaMuraglia said in a statement posted on the site.

"They in no way reflect our political beliefs and for the record are diametrically opposed to our value system."

How the ads got on the site is a bit of a mystery.

The ads apparently were placed through Google's AdSense service, which LaMuraglia uses to generate ad revenue for Gaywheels.com. LaMuraglia said it was his understanding that his agreement with Google allowed him to block all political advertising from his site and until today, no political ads had ever appeared on Gaywheels.com.

Google has been a bit opaque in explaining how the Proposition 8 ad got on the site, he said. And even after LaMuraglia demanded that the ads be removed, a couple of hours passed before they were gone.

A spokeswoman for the pro-Proposition 8 campaign denied targeting its ads at Gaywheels.com.