June 15 , 2010

VW Canada reinvents the Sunday drive

Site takes you on digital Sunday drive

Coming after 5 straight months of sales increases and with new vehicle sales already up 27% to-date versus a year ago, Volkswagen Canada announced that it is launching a major integrated marketing campaign in support of the all-new Golf, including the award-winning Golf GTI and Golf Wagon: "Anyone for a Sunday Drive?"

"The Sunday Drive campaign re-ignites the emotional connection with the Volkswagen Brand," according to Bruce Rosen, Director, Marketing and Communications for Volkswagen Canada. "The new Golf Family epitomizes all the best characteristics of the Volkswagen Brand, including sleek European styling, proven affordable German engineering, eco-friendly technologies, and that they are really fun to drive. As a result of the new Golf winning 2009 World Car of the Year and the new Golf GTI winning 2010 Canadian Car of the Year, deliveries of the new Golf Family are up 165% so far over last year's pace. We wanted a marketing campaign that would live up to reputation of these cars and to the Brand, and fuel our continued sales momentum."

The campaign asks people "What Happened to the Sunday Drive?" Back in the 50's and 60's, families and friends would just pile into the car and go for a drive - a Sunday ritual. With this campaign, Volkswagen is trying to encourage people to visit a new town, take a ride to the countryside or to just get out there and explore far and away places, all with the notion of bringing back that romance of the Sunday Drive.

Created by Volkswagen's new lead agency for Brand creative, Red Urban Toronto, in collaboration with its existing agency PALM + HAVAS Communications in Montreal, the fully-integrated campaign launches this week and runs throughout the summer. It includes several 60- and 30-second TV commercials for the Golf Wagon and Golf GTI models, 4-page print spreads in national newspapers, multiple radio spots, and an interactive simulated Sunday Drive microsite at www.vwsundaydrive.ca. A first for Volkswagen Canada, there is also a social media component nudging Canadians to record their own Sunday drive experiences and share them with other Volkswagen and non-Volkswagen drivers.

"We wanted to bring back the fun-to-drive aspects of VW", offered Christina Yu, EVP Creative Director at Red Urban. "There will always be "Point A to Point B" drivers, but we set out to appeal to those people who simply love to drive, period."

One of the more innovative pieces of the Sunday Drive campaign is a digital Sunday drive at www.vwsundaydrive.ca. Yu explained: "The website lets you remix an old song while you see first person driving footage. The changes you make to the music are also applied to the scenery you see. It's like remixing your own Sunday drive." Friends can share their simulated Sunday Drive experiences, and the microsite also allows customers to explore the features and benefits of the new Golf Family of cars.

Peter Housley, President and CEO of Red Urban said, "We have studied the greatness of historic VW advertising. There is a magical moment that occurs when car, driver and passenger, and their environment all get connected emotionally. It is a wonderfully special Brand moment and this is what we set out to create for Volkswagen."