10m ad blitz to relaunch VW Golf

Volkswagen UK unveils its largest single ad push to date this week with a 10m campaign for the new Golf.

Advertising for the revamped car, which goes on sale this week, breaks on Friday and was created by BMP DDB. It will coincide with the on-air launch of the car company’s 3m sponsorship of Channel 4’s sports coverage with Transworld Sport on Saturday (MW March 5).

The UK company has resisted using a pan-European campaign created in Germany because it was felt to be “inappropriate” in this country.

In the UK, the Golf is at a double disadvantage. There is a threat of a supply shortage, though the company denies this will be a problem.

It will also compete with the all-new Vauxhall Astra and the Ford Escort replacement, the Focus, which is launched in October. Both Vauxhall and Ford will outspend VW on advertising.

“This year we have seen the two main volume competitors going for radical transformations,” says VW communications manager Nigel Brotherton. “However, the technology in the new Golf is every bit as radical as the Astra and Focus – in some cases more radical.”

The ad, which carries the strapline “Generation Golf”, features a series of characters going about their daily business. Each holds up a placard which displays their inner thoughts.

The C4 idents link snippets of sporting footage with four different VW models and characteristics, such as the reliability of the Golf.