DMG China rolls out the red carpet for VW
DMG, China has unveiled a transmedia marketing campaign, featuring a tongue-in-cheek Hollywood-style awards ceremony to position Volkswagen’s new CC model at the heart of China’s luxury car market.
The television commercial features a glamorous couple being mistaken for film stars at the heart of the campaign, which is bolstered by radio, print, online ads as well as an experiential road trip starting in the wine country of California, taking in a Hollywood studio lot, and culminating in a glamorous party at the top of the historic Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles.
DMG opened the campaign with a glitzy Oscars-style red carpet event in Shanghai, attended by VIPs, the media and paparazzi. The tongue-in-cheek awards show featured the new CC receiving awards for individual features and design aesthetics.
The television commercial exhibits a similar light hearted sentiment. A VW CC glides to a halt at the end of a red carpet in front of a group of waiting photographers. Its driver emerges amid the glare of flashing bulbs, but bemuses fans and security personnel alike by returning to the car with ice cream for his passenger rather than attending the ceremony.
The campaign uses the slogan, Glamour Comes Standard, in recognition of the shift away from ostentatious displays of wealth to sophistication and self-expression in China.
Dan Mintz, the founder and chief executive of DMG, believes transmedia storytelling captures the lifestyle owners of a Volkswagen CC can aspire to. The campaign demonstrates the down-to-earth sophistication required of brands hoping to crack the lucrative Chinese consumer market.
He said: “The lifestyle depicted in the campaign celebrates luxury, but focuses more on the glamour associated with wealth – a concept that is increasingly relevant to Chinese consumers. In this respect glamour means being the centre of attention without courting it, and being known for what you are rather than what you have.”
He added: “There is no specific word for ‘glamour’ in Chinese, so DMG brought the concept to life in an irreverent way, with a nod and a wink to Hollywood, whilst positioning the CC as a high-end car, in an appealing way.”