Volkswagen Vento: Brought to you with love

Launching Vento, Volkswagen's entry-level sedan, the German carmaker talks about passion in craftsmanship so deep that even the engineers hate to see the car being driven away

When something is built with much love and care, it is but obviously tough to let go of. Using this insight, Volkswagen has launched its entry-level sedan, Vento in India, through a communication route it calls 'Tears of Perfection'.

After a much-talked about print campaign where the creative agency, DDB Mudra gave the newspaper a voice, the television commercial takes forward the message of how the car has been crafted with much passion.

The TVC shows a factory with grieving engineers and employees, some even bursting into tears, as the Vento is driven away by a customer. As the film ends, an employee is shown running after the car, pleading with the customer to take care of the Vento. The core message is that the Vento has been manufactured with such care that even its engineers have difficulty in letting it go.

At DDB Mudra, the creative team behind the TVC includes Bobby Pawar, chief creative officer; Rajeev Raja, national creative director; and associate creative directors, Anshumani Khanna and Timsy Gupta and creative supervisor Trishna Parkash.

The film has been directed by Sebastian Strasser of Radical Media and has been produced by Tapan Sharma and Anil Sonawane from DDB Mudra.

Talking to afaqs!, Raja says that the brief to the agency to communicate that the car was the best in class.

"The 'best in class' feeling led to the creative leap -- of the car being created with passion and love. This further led to the idea of the engineers' sense of regret to let it go," says Raja.

"It is like a sculptor who creates a piece of art. He obviously is happy when his art is bought; but there is always something that tugs at his heart, as he watches it go away," he adds.

Raja also says that the film attempts to break a myth by showing emotional engineers, who are otherwise considered to be very detail-oriented and in control of their emotions.

The television campaign will be supported by print, online, digital and outdoor media to establish awareness about the Vento, until mid-November.

Talking about the new campaign, Lutz Kothe, head, marketing and public relations, Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Group Sales India says, "At Volkswagen, our aim has been to break away from the communication clutter, by being innovative and refreshing in the way we narrate our story to the customer, while ensuring the intended core message is intact."

The media duties for the brand are being handled by MediaCom India.

Talk of the town

Creative pundits have a strong word against the execution of the film, although the positioning has met with approval.

Santosh Padhi, chief creative officer and co-founder, Taproot India approves of how the agency has taken the physical attributes of the brand and given it an emotional connect.

"Everyone knows the physical features of Volkswagen cars. The company has talked about it enough. The emotional connect to the craftsmanship is fantastic. It is a very good spot for the brand to be in; and this is what will connect with the consumers in India. You need to be strong enough to give an emotional connect to rational features," says Padhi.

However, the execution, according to Padhi, does not meet the set standards and makes it look rather average. He does put in a kind word for the music, which he thinks works well.

Sujit Das, executive creative director, Pickle Lintas echoes similar views, saying that while the thought is "very nice", one could have worked wonders with it.

"It could have been dramatised much further. The film is not at all in line with the international Volkswagen advertising and lacks class. The thought, which is really good, should have come across more visually," says Das.