The New Beetle Case
It’s funny the things we remember. The things we hang on to, the first day of school. A first dance. A first kiss. Some things are simply unforgettable. What if quality never went out of style? What if originality still meant something original? What is simplicity, honesty and reliability came back again? Imagine a new Volkswagen….
Mission Impossible: Launch of the New Beetle
Introduction
At a time when American’s were sceptical about the purchase of imported cars, due to lack of availability of spare partes and costly repairs, heightening Germany’s existing image problem in the market, Volkswagen introduced the Beetle in 1949 which turned out to be a phenomenal success and envisaged a cult-following by the 60s. However due to factors, such as Deutsche Mark appreciation, declining hatchback popularity, new environmental legislations all led to a dramatic decline in the sales of the Volkswagen Beetle. The sales after peaking in 1968, died out completely by 1981. Subsequently with a renewed focus to leverage a no. of value propositions from the old beetle such as strong heritage value, focus on unique driving experience and delivering German technology at an affordable value, the company decided to re-model the Beetle to incorporate design features such as –honest, reliable, simple and original to design the New Beetle. After meeting with success through its initial promotional campaigns, the company’s marketing manager Vanzura had decided to target the Baby bloomers with a proposition aimed at ‘indulging in nostalgia’. While rival companies spent upwards of 100 million dollars towards promotional budget, Vanzura would have to content with 25% of the typical budget size, which would further shrink if Vanzura would have to allocate dollars towards promotional expense of the New Passat which had debuted just 5 months ago. With this constraint on its budgetary resources, the company marketing manager set out to decide the marketing strategy to be followed for
Mission Impossible: Launch of the New Beetle
Introduction
At a time when American’s were sceptical about the purchase of imported cars, due to lack of availability of spare partes and costly repairs, heightening Germany’s existing image problem in the market, Volkswagen introduced the Beetle in 1949 which turned out to be a phenomenal success and envisaged a cult-following by the 60s. However due to factors, such as Deutsche Mark appreciation, declining hatchback popularity, new environmental legislations all led to a dramatic decline in the sales of the Volkswagen Beetle. The sales after peaking in 1968, died out completely by 1981. Subsequently with a renewed focus to leverage a no. of value propositions from the old beetle such as strong heritage value, focus on unique driving experience and delivering German technology at an affordable value, the company decided to re-model the Beetle to incorporate design features such as –honest, reliable, simple and original to design the New Beetle. After meeting with success through its initial promotional campaigns, the company’s marketing manager Vanzura had decided to target the Baby bloomers with a proposition aimed at ‘indulging in nostalgia’. While rival companies spent upwards of 100 million dollars towards promotional budget, Vanzura would have to content with 25% of the typical budget size, which would further shrink if Vanzura would have to allocate dollars towards promotional expense of the New Passat which had debuted just 5 months ago. With this constraint on its budgetary resources, the company marketing manager set out to decide the marketing strategy to be followed for