VW’s Strategy
VW resisted the temptation to scrap the Skoda brand altogether. Despite its poor image in the UK, Skoda still commanded respect in Eastern Europe and held its own in other Western European countries.
The Skoda brand also had high “brand awareness” in the UK –even if it was for the wrong reasons – and a reliable distribution channel through a network of independent car retailers.
The next product launch was the Skoda Fabia. It was launched with a much smaller marketing campaign and an advertising message that poked gentle fun at Skoda’s customer perception:
"The Fabia is a car so good that you won’t believe it’s a Skoda"
Key elements of the promotional mix were as follows:
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The Fabia was launched with a number of television, print and poster ads
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The initial TV campaign ran for four-and-a-half weeks and the print and poster campaign ran for two weeks.
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Expensive TV and print campaigns were supported by both PR and direct mail campaigns
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The PR push targeted the consumer press and attempted to get journalists to discuss Skoda in a positive light
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The direct mailings tried to build on loyalty levels among Skoda drivers and get across the brand’s new image.
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AutoExpress magazine carried a competition to win a Skoda car that generated 27,000 responses. The respondents who didn’t win the car were profiled to check their similarity to the average Skoda driver and followed up. Hot prospects received a scale model as a consolation prize and an invitation to test drive a full-size model.
Impressive results
The results of the marketing campaign were impressive. By the end of 2000, more than 11,000 Fabias had been sold and even Octavia sales were seeing a 29% increase on the previous year. In July 2000, the near impossible finally happened – Skoda had a waiting-list for its cars.
There was also a less obvious, but equally important shift in the public’s perception of Skoda. Only 42% of those polled after the campaign said they would not consider buying a Skoda.
Many UK customers now don’t see a Skoda in front of them – they see a cut-price VW.
Tutor2u
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