Can’t. Stop. Thinking. About. Jetta. Volkswagen Canada is launching the new Jetta with two different campaigns – ‘All Grown Up,’ by Arnold Worldwide Toronto for English Canada, and ‘Obsession,’ by PALM Arnold Montreal for French Canada.
Due to space constraints, we could only look at one of the campaigns. We decided to go with ‘Obsession,’ swayed by its two brilliant TV spots. One quirkily depicts fast lane obsession by showing everyone from swimmers to bowlers queuing to the left. The other tells the tale of a man obsessed with wheels, installing them on everything from his toaster to his dog. The humorous ‘obsession’ theme is also explored in print ads, outdoor executions and a Web site, http://www.nouvellejetta.ca/‘>www.nouvellejetta.ca.
Robert Martell, sales operations and marketing leader for Volkswagen Canada in Ajax, Ont., reports that, since the March 21 launch, sales have spiked significantly.
We asked Pam Fraser, CD at TBWAVancouver, and David Chiavegato, creative partner at Toronto’s Grip, to weigh in on whether they think the campaign is obsession-worthy.
TV
DC: The spots are intriguing. Of the two, I prefer the one that depicts situations where individuals are queuing to the left. This is a nice expression of the new enhanced power and overall driving experience. With both spots, I’m not sure if I would personally use the link lines ‘Driven to roll’ or ‘Driven to the left’ that precede the tagline. I think the spots work quite nicely without them. Which speaks to the simplicity of the ads.
PF: Having a giant pocket on your ass is damn funny.
It also is the best execution
in the print campaign.
DC: The print consisted of interesting scenarios, but I felt like they were struggling to ‘pick a lane’ to use a very lame play on words. While the visuals depicted simple analogies to communicate benefits like more room, it seemed as though the ‘thought bubble’ was less about strengthening the concept and more about finding an overt visual link back to the campaign. I think the ads could have lived on their own, without the bubble.
OUTDOOR
PF: I like it. It’s clean. These ads do a nice job of showing off the new car and getting across the idea of other people being jealous or obsessed with the Jetta through the thought bubbles.
DC: The outdoor demonstrates the obsession theme in fun scenarios, which again, capture the driving experience. I think this would have made a better print campaign, given the constraints of needing to show the car in a prominent way, which resulted in an inverted ‘thought balloon.’ At first glance, it struck me as a bit odd (the inverted part). But that’s just me.
ONLINE
PF: A nice site, looks great, easy to use and feels part of the campaign, but not that entertaining. I have a mild case of attention deficit disorder. Look, a puppy! Got to go.
The creds:
Client – Volkswagen Canada: Amy Gushman, brand marketing manager; Todd Riley, interactive marketing manager
Agency – PALM Arnold: Normand Chiasson, strategies; Connie Ponari, strategies; Nicolas Dube, CD; Pascal De Decker, copywriter; Anik Ouelle, AD;
Claudette Valois, media
Prodco – Quatre Zero Un: Frédéric Desproges, director; Phil Brown, producer
Web site – PALM Arnold: Elana Gorbatyuk, strategies; Normand Miron, CD; Diane Gosselin, Michel Vaillancourt, creatives
