skodaknows-blog

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Nissan flaunts some swagger in the crossover SUV market with its new ‘Kicks’ model, replacing the ‘Juke’ in the USA.

It’s not likely to come to Europe, but if it were you think it might approach its messaging as it has done here: directly addressing what it thinks is its young audience’s conscious sense of style.

The execution is crisp and cool, doing a good job of highlighting all of the car’s notable mod cons (Bose 'Personal Space’ audio system, anyone?) with highly visual, highly watchable flair. 

It’s a simple but effective way to make placing the product and its features at the fore interesting.

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A smart bit of activation here from Renault.

With Va-Va-Voom, Renault captured the very essence of French cool, so relevant to a free and confident 90s, and transferred it seamlessly to its brand. (Thierry Henry helped, that lovable rogue). The result was a whole generation of first car buyers who made the Renault Clio their runaround of choice.

The 90s and its optimism may have evaporated, but the Clio hasn’t, and Renault’s hoping that today’s first-car buyers - Millennial’s, whose weakness for nostalgia is well-documented - can be helped to re-capture a bit of that 90s cool via the Clio.

Where there’s heritage there’s a good story, and with that, there’s the power to capture people’s imaginations with your brand. The key, of course, is to handle that heritage in the right way, to get the timing and the message right so whatever it is you say or do gives your audience something they actually want or need.

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It’s easy to dismiss things like this as PR gimmicks, but there’s something to be said for a good stunt. 

Tesla has reached its dizzying heights (whether of fame or infamy) all without spending a single dollar on traditional advertising. What they do instead is painfully simple: they just make stuff their target audience will think is cool. It’s innovation for innovation’s sake, but with each surfboard, flame thrower and car-in-orbit they refresh their status as the future-makers of the industry. 

Any other brand can do what Tesla does. If you know what your brand is about - innovation, aesthetics, speed - go out and prove it, beyond the car. Do it well and people will not only pay attention in the moment, when it comes to buying a car, long before they’ve started their research they’ll already know know what you’re all about.

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So, this article highlights research showing that ridesharing services like Lyft and UberPool actually make city congestion worse, not better. They were meant to reduce the number of people driving alone, but instead incentivised people who would otherwise have walked, cycled, scooted, danced their way to wherever to hop in a cheap cab instead.  

Fine. That in itself gives automakers a handy stat to push back with whenever someone accuses their pursuit of sales as clogging up our roads. 

However, the bigger question, albeit one we can’t answer yet, is what comes next? When we hit our peak of urban cars, will the reaction be to abandon them altogether in favour of cars, scooters etc? And if so, what’s the role for a car then, when they’re no longer welcome in our cities? Just one to think about...

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A jaunt down memory lane, right back to the humble beginning of the motorcar, and the ads that first sold it.

A bit of fun really, but some serious lessons to be learnt by looking back at where we’ve all been before.

The stark warning about the perils and pitfalls of mismatched celeb endorsements tells us what we already know, but had best not forget, while generally it’s a nice time to be reminded that ultimately all you need to do is entertain people. 

Also, the bit around 11 minutes where he talks about the new relationship car manufacturers and customers have developed over social media is really interesting. Again, the principles aren’t new, but always good to see them brought to life in interesting ways.

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It’s the natural next step for car ownership: first Zipcar and the like introduced a pay-as-you-drive for urbanites who wanted the freedom of a car without the commitment; now those same urbanites can be Zipcar.

It’s an amazing prospect for car owners. Like with Airbnb, where you can monetise something that would otherwise sit gathering dust (i.e. your home when you’re not in it), why wouldn’t you do exactly the same with your car?

Automakers’ first instinct might be to fear the way this is heading. After all, more sharing equals less new sales. But not necessarily. This model actually incentivises people to buy cars, knowing that the up-front expense can be offset by its rental value over however many years. That may be what’s behind GM’s thinking. That and the blunt fact that, sooner or later, sales of cars to individuals are going to fall. The earlier they get a foothold in the market that will emerge in its place, the better. 

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Industry big-hitters from Creative Equals, Google and M&C Saatchi discuss diversity in the ad industry and the benefits to businesses of directly aiming for more inclusivity. 

In auto as in everywhere, there are only benefits to be gained from striving to reflect a more diverse audience: the more types of people you appeal to, the broader (read: bigger) your customer base. The question for ŠKODA is how to include different audiences without excluding your current customer base, but that's a question that can be answered easily enough. 

The main point being made here, as elsewhere, is that as long as you're doing something to bring in a more diverse customer base, you're moving your business in the right direction.

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In particular check out Volvo's activity: a nice tone to strike. It's easy for brands to jump on this bandwagon, but difficult to pull off your participation as genuine, rather than opportunism. 

The Pride cause has grown in support year by year, and that's a good thing, but brands need to remember that it's a movement about individuals and their identity, not faceless companies trying to sell to them. 

The spirit of pride is inclusivity, but does that extend beyond people to brands? Yes, but only if they can demonstrate they’re being genuine. In a movement that doesn’t care who you are, genuine, authentic, is the only thing you need to be. So it’s great territory for ŠKODA as long as it’s clear anything we say or do is to benefit Pride and the wider movement rather than ourselves.

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The frank reality is that tech companies will soon be equal competitors with traditional automotive brands, threatening to supersede the incumbents with superior innovation and sexier, futuristic brands.

What then for car companies? Well, they’re not short on innovation themselves, and any car manufacturer that expects to survive the future will have to make sure they’re helping to shape it. That’s one thing. The other is how you talk about yourself when in that role - maybe it’s time we saw a big leap in how car brands think of and refer to themselves?

The car company’s dead, long live the tech company.

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If we all know that clichés are to be avoided, why do so many brands continue to fall into them? 

They’re like magnets: the pull of the familiar is almost irresistible, and fair enough - clichés become clichés through repetition; things get repeated when they work; when things work it makes sense to do them. 

But there’s a limit. If that logic above is true, what’s also true is that a story loses its power with every telling. But the good news, as shown by the few brands in this article who managed to avoid the cliché trap, is that there is always a way to bring fresh thinking, even to something as familiar as the World Cup. Just keep pushing until you find it.

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Lexus UX

Read more: https://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/lexus-channels-art-become-luxury-lifestyle-brand/1486836

Lexus launch their UX crossover with a piece of experiential marketing that positions their new SUV quite literally as an artist’s canvas.

More than just a stunt, there’s the potential here for this to be the beginning of a dramatic change in thinking from Lexus: to position themselves not just as a car brand but as an integrated feature in their audience’s wider lifestyles. The benefits: a new dimension to the brand that can give it the edge in its luxury category. The potential cons: if customers don’t agree the brand’s earned the right to park up in the world of art, this will only serve to damage the brand’s standing in the eyes of the people whose approval they seek.

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https://www.volvocars.com/uk/buy/shop/care-by-volvo

Care by Volvo

Volvo ride the trend of commitment-free car ownership with their own offering. Sold on the promise of total ease and convenience in payment and maintenance. 

There are a few factors at play. The rising cost of living means that people, especially younger drivers, have less cash to spend all at once on a car. For them, a manageable monthly fee can seem far more attractive, if not realistic. It offers them value without having to compromise on a car that’s both a practical necessity and a desirable marker of status.

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Koolicar Go 

French car-rental service transforming the user experience. Their app uses Augmented Reality to snazzy effect, allowing users to quickly find and drive one of their cars.

AR tech has been around for ages, but really hit the mainstream in 2016 when Pokemon Go hypnotised the masses. It’s no longer ‘new’, and will only continue to become more deeply embedded in our lives.

What it’s good for is exactly what Koolicar have done - just bringing a fresh new element to enrich a user-experience. AR is perfect for these kinds of tactical enhancements: little moments that can give customers a small but powerful ‘wow’ moment.