An Analysis of Volkswagen Campaign and BMW Branding Campaign - Speech or Presentation Example

Introduction

An advertising campaign is a sequence of related messages that share an idea or a theme. Over time advertisements have evolved as there is a significant difference between the ads in the nineteenth and twentieth century. An advertising campaign shares a common theme, targets a particular part of the population, and it may choose to focus on one or more brands or products. The critical part of an advertising campaign is determining the campaign theme as it determines other individual advertisements that are to take place later. Development of an advertising campaign comes with goals such as raising brand awareness, an establishment of a brand and increasing the rate or volume of sales (Parente &Strausbaugh, 2014).

. The photo below is of a BMW i8 advertisement. BMW is well known for well-directed advertising campaigns. There is a unique aspect that comes with BMW’s advertisements. Due to the intense sources of funding, BMW launches its attacks globally which creates a large market for the company. Currently, the BMW i8 is the most recent advertising campaign in the BMW Corporation (Sandholm, 2014). Recently, Volkswagen launched an advertising campaign to rebuild trust with her customers. The Volkswagen advertising campaign is considered to be an emotional one whereby a young boy seats at the back of his father’s Volkswagen. It captures every stage of life of the young boy as it showcases different types of Volkswagen in each stage. As the advertisement comes to an end, there is a voice-over which says that the car is a lifelong companion.

Target Audience

Every advertisement and advertising campaign have a target population. The target audience for BMW i8 is for wealthy customers who want the comfort of luxurious cars. Customers who earn a very high income. The Volkswagen is for middle class income earners who are neither that poor or that rich. It has managed to cover the gap that the BMW i8 has not reached.

Offer details

The advertisement clearly captures the features of the vehicle, indicating how the vehicle came to being. The Brand Marketer and head of marketing services of the BMW advertising campaign said that they wanted to show the consumers the introduction of the BMW i8 which clearly outlines the beauty and power of the vehicle. The Volkswagen ad is done through a family which clearly shows it’s for a family and it’s a lifelong companion.

Time of placement

The fact that the Volkswagen ad shows all the stages of the child’s life clearly outlines the lifelong companion statement. The BMW i8 ad is done on roads or beaches which shows that it is approved for all seasons. The BMW i8 is not affected by weather changes whether sunny or rainy; the car can survive for all seasons.

Advertising channels

The advertising campaign was showcased in the television sets, cinemas and later on the BMW website. The audio visual advertisements were made up of famous actors who talked about the good experience they had while driving the BMW i8 but the shots focus on the features, experiences and are intense and pure. The Volkswagen advertising campaign was done in audiovisual form of media and magazines too.

Advertising Intention

Volkswagen had lured clients and regulators by lying about its emissions which made them loose a lot of markets. In an attempt to create the trust again with its customers and regulators, they came up with the new advertising campaign whereby DDB Berlin collaborated with the Volkswagen company. The principal agency behind the brand campaign was DDB Berlin. The advertising campaign first featured in the United Kingdom on 3rd February and was to roll out to other European countries. The BMW advertising campaign seeks to show its customers that they are still in the market and working on something better.

Perception

In the Volkswagen ad campaign, they want to give the consumer something they can afford. Therefore, the different types of Volkswagens advertised have different features and different prices. They also come in different fashion as not everyone has the same taste. BMW i8 ad gives us the perception that they love the black colour. Although, they have other colours in the market, black is the major colour in their ad. The black is made to be flashy which is a way of attracting consumers too.

Motivation

Motivation is a driving force that drives an individual into action. The motivating factor in the Volkswagen ad campaign is that it shows that the company is growing because at each stage that the boy grows, there is a different vehicle which is modernized than the previous one. The BMW i8 showcases the features; the fact that it has an upward direction of opening of doors gives the consumer an attractive aspect that they may want to relate to. This can motivate a customer into buying the new vehicle as they want to feel the same.

Buying Process

The consumer buying process is aimed at trying to get the customer to purchase a product. The problem recognition step is the reason why most businesses and products come up. They realize that the available goods in the market do not satisfy all the needs of the consumers. BMW i8 came up as a result of knowing that some families and drivers needed a comfortable vehicle to move around with and go for vacations (Baxter, 2012). Volkswagen presents the brand to the consumer as a way of marketing it; the family picture is a way of branding the ad showing that even the urban kids can still feel comfortable while using the car as it improves with age.

Involvement level/ Risk

The Volkswagen company faced a risk of finances and market when they lied to their customers about emissions from the vehicle. The emissions from the Volkswagen hospitalized a huge number of people in the United States which led to a loss in the market value after admitting to the fact that the emissions from the Volkswagen were affected. The market loss totaled to an amount of approximately 21.7 billion euros. The Volkswagen was summoned by the United Nations and the European Commission because of releasing biased information to its consumers and producing vehicles which had faulty software and misled regulators.

Investors for the Volkswagen company risked suffering from losses in their securities due to the emission scandals from the second-hand cars. The BMW i8 risks its ad campaign because they only make it seem that only the high income earners can afford it which is a demotivating factor to the medium and low income earners in the market.

Marketing mix

Product

Volkswagen has been advertised very well as it looks for a way of rebuilding trust with its customers. The voice over at the end which claims that Volkswagen is a lifelong companion is a classical way of interesting the buyer. The BMW i8 ad campaign only gives the photo of the vehicle which is a flashy black; They also release a banner to indicate which new countries they have stocked the vehicle which is a good way of marketing.

Price

In both advertisements, they just show the features and benefits of the vehicle but do not state any price which is a way of leaving the buyer in suspense leading them to log in into their website or contact the customer care service of the vehicles company to gather more information.

Promotion

In the Volkswagen and the BMW i8 advertisements campaign, they have both used attractive ways of marketing. To promote the Volkswagen campaign, the ad uses a family and shows the different models of the vehicle as the boy grows up which shows that Volkswagen will always be there and move with time. The BMW i8 vehicle is advertised by a young man who is in a well-dressed suit standing beside his car proudly looking at it while the doors are open. This makes young people to strive as they also want to be in such a position in a few years to come.

Place

The BMW i8 campaign has been broadcasted on all types of media and worldwide as their sources of funding are quite strong. The Volkswagen campaign also has been advertised in magazines which is considered as a cheap way of advertising and it will go worldwide.

Critique and Recommendation

The Volkswagen campaign has catered for age due to the presence of the boy since he was a small one and it has also catered for the family structure. The ad campaign shows that Volkswagen is a company that caters for all diverse regions worldwide because of the different models. However, not quoting the price is a disadvantage and an advantage. It is a disadvantage in that the people who cannot get quick access to their website and needs the vehicle will suffer as they may find that their choice is already gone.

Companies like BMW have come up very well, and their marketing agency has ways of dealing with the shortcomings that face them. For example, when BMW i8 faced the risk of losing customers because of the fear of explosion due to a loophole in the welding of the engine, the marketing department came together to come up with more advertisements to give the consumers a constant reminder that the vehicle brand is still in the market. The Volkswagen company suffered massive losses after the news about the release of dangerous emissions was leaked into the market.

The investors suffered massive losses in the stock market with the risk of lack of funds as some financial institutions decided to reduce their funds directed to the company. The company also saw the loss of loosing major stakeholders from the enterprise. Considering the Volkswagen and BMW company are both businesses that manufacture vehicles, each company has to come up with the best methods of profit maximization and unique ways of setting out a product into the market with an aim of luring consumers so as to increase the volume of sales.

The BMW i8 campaign should consider using more popular models to advertise their vehicle and they should make them visible in every advertisement because there are people who do not know so much about cars; therefore may suffer in taking note of the features. If they had seen the popular actor, actress or model they would have bought the vehicle faster than before. The Volkswagen company should take note of maintaining its investors, consumers and agencies who mostly purchase or support the company financially because this will assist them to go global.

Conclusion

BMW i8 and Volkswagen company are two very different vehicle companies in terms of funding, target audience, and price. In marketing, companies should be very careful of the information released to the public. They should know how to respond to all types of buyers because there are polite and rude buyers. The latter always believe that no service should be offered in the wrong way because it is paid for. Companies should know how to handle all customers well so that they may also get good reviews when it comes to rating which is also another source of marketing.