Mar 21, 2008

Finally, Someone Is Listening



Courtesy of my other British blogging buddy, LunarBBDO, is this TV commercial from VW that is all about their new UK website.

You read that correctly. Finally, someone has figured out that if you have a website that you actually use to sell things, a place where someone will go TO ACTUALLY BUY YOUR CAR, that it makes a whole lot of sense to drive as many people as possible to that website. And that TV is still the best way to drive a whole lot of people anywhere.

Even better, from a Toadian perspective, is that the spot alludes to the utility of the website, comparing its functionality and ease of use to the VW's functionality and ease of use. (People like easy-to-use, highly functional websites better than ones with lots of cool-looking flash.)

It's pretty revolutionary, given that most companies (and agencies) still subscribe to the "Clicking Through The Internet" theory that says if you put something up online, people will be clicking though the internet the same way the click through their cable TV line-up at home and eventually find the site.

For real.

Kudos to whoever did this.
at

7 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 22, 2008 at 1:45 PM

    Totally agree. vehix.com is about the only brand recently I’ve seen try to promote their website’s new features, but not like this, and no way near as cool.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lunar BBDOMarch 23, 2008 at 3:13 PM

    It was Tribal DDB.

    So the digital agency makes the good TV ad to drive the traffic to its website. Also significant?

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMarch 23, 2008 at 8:53 PM

    tv's role in the creative media mix has changed. it's no longer necessarily the star of the show. it sometimes should play a supporting role.

    but old habits die hard.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Alan WolkMarch 23, 2008 at 11:13 PM

    @Lunar: Thanks for the info on Tribal. Any sense of what kind of media budget they have for this? And if whoever does VW's traditional ATL marketing in the UK is aghast over this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AdminMarch 23, 2008 at 11:36 PM

    Toad - That is what I call Integration! Where the sum of the parts is greater than... Where all components are layered and leverage each other. Where PR, Marketing, Advertising and Design work together with common elements to deliver. Love it!

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousMarch 24, 2008 at 1:20 PM

    did anyone but me see this ad before? Only that time it was Honda and from Wieden? Same music - give or take. Same technicians walking around building and solving things. Very, VERY similar I must say.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Alan WolkMarch 24, 2008 at 2:11 PM

    @O.S.: Have not seen the Honda spot you're referencing. Where did it run- US or UK?

    ReplyDelete