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Volkswagen shifts car-buying culture with experiential marketing

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Volkswagen Hong Kong is offering test drive sessions to new drivers still on a probationary license where they can drive the brand's Polo GP while receiving advice and coaching from a driving consultant.Until 14 September, 48 test drive sessions are on offer and will take place across three showrooms in Wanchai, Kowloon Bay and Yuen Long.The first of three tutorial videos about driving has been released, placed on the brand's YouTube channel as content and a pre-roll ad, as well as the brand's Facebook page.Another video tutorial on parking will be launched on 9 September while a third video will be released in mid-September.  The videos were produced by the brand's agency DDB Hong Kong.Ads and visuals containing short driving tips will be placed on Facebook in between the video releases.  Forums are the next platform for promoting the campaign.Martina Berg, marketing director at Volkswagen Hong Kong, sees the experiential marketing aspect of the campaign as a way to change consumer behaviour with roots in Hong Kong's car-buying culture."In Hong Kong, even if you go to a showroom to check out cars, you would only look at them.  The only time prospective customers test drive cars is if they are around 80-90% sure they want to buy the car and then they would only try cars on their shortlist," Martina Berg, marketing director at Volkswagen Hong Kong, said."They feel guilty doing a test drive if they were not seriously considering purchase. To make test driving guilt-free again, we need to bring it forward in the consumer journey - from the stage where customers are deciding whether to purchase it to the awareness stage."First-time buyers may not be familiar with cars and may have many factors to consider."So rather than talking to them through the usual advertising channels, we decided to focus on first-hand brand experiences by leveraging the test drive sessions to eventually elevate the emotional appeal of the New Polo and also our brand," Berg said.Social media is the major medium for the campaign to appeal to young people who are usually the probationary drivers.Berg said, "Younger drivers such as our target group for the Polo GP don’t really watch TV anymore.  They consume content when and where they want to.""Instead of sending out messages on TV where we might not be heard or seen by the right people, we decided to focus more on a solid and audience-relevant creative idea and bringing it to life through social media channels." Video credits:Client: Volkswagen Hong KongMarketing Director: Martina BergMarketing Manager: Alice SiuEvent & Sponsorship Manager: Henrietta YeoSenior Marketing Officer: Mandy Poon, Ivan Lee and Flora WongEvent & Retail Marketing Officer: Pamela LaiAgency: DDB Group Hong KongPresident and CEO: Simone TamChief Creative Officer: Jeffry GambleCreative Director: Leung Chung and Vincent TseAssociate Art Director: Ka Ho ChanPlanning Director: Shiggy FileAssociate Planning Director: Andreas KrasserBusiness Director: Adrian LiAssociate Account Director - Diana TamHead of Live - Valiant YipAccount Manager - Venus Tang

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