PoloDriver

The new Polo GTI is to be Volkswagen’s first product launched digitally on the internet. Presented exclusively to customers in Europe via social networking site Facebook, users are alerted to the sporty new VW by the slogan, ‘Fast Lane – Driven by Fun.’ The company claims that the new exclusively digital campaign is not car advertising in the classic sense, but that it ‘specifically harnesses the diverse opportunities offered by social networks to inspire young drivers for the Polo GTI.’

Speaking about the launch of the English-language ‘Volkswagen International’ Facebook page, Luca de Meo, Director of Marketing, Volkswagen Group and the Volkswagen Passenger Cars Brand, said: ‘Our aim is to inspire young people for Volkswagen brand products – in an international dimension. This campaign gets us close to customers and at the same time gives us the opportunity to engage in an intensive dialog with them.’

In typical, subtle Volkswagen fashion, three videos where the new Polo GTI is not immediately in evidence have been produced for the channel at www.facebook.com/volkswagen. The clips depict clever scenes that add an unusual touch to everyday life; a giant slide appears at subway steps, supermarket carts that are particularly agile, and an elevator that sounds like a rocket taking off. The films aim to convey the thrill of speed without encouraging fast driving.

Volkswagen’s social networking profile also includes the most important product information about the new Polo GTI as well as links to the company’s other global Facebook activities. A ‘Fast Wall’ has been added for member messages, and there are photographs of the Polo GTI itself. In addition, a competition – where a new Polo GTI is the prize – motivates users to be creative and submit their own ‘Fast Lane’ contributions.

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We’ve had the P!nk soundtracked TV commercials, the Heidi Klum promotional interviews and the ‘Timeless’ UK website tie-ins, but Volkswagen clearly wasn’t sure that the new Polo message is getting across fully. So, to appeal yet further to the younger generation of drivers and buyers that it hopes to attract, its made a computer-animated video of the new car to impress them.

And it is impressive. At some points in the short film, you’re left wondering where the virtual and real cars meet (clue: there’s no real car in it), and the detail is stunning. The original film is being used on a Polo ‘web special’ microsite, which can be found on many of Volkswagen’s country or region specific websites, sometimes under the ‘configurator’ banner. We found it on the Volkswagen Ireland Polo promotional pages and we know that it was also available at www.volkswagen.de too.

The stills illustrated here don’t do the film justice. There are two versions, each with differing middle sections. As promotion tools go, it looks incredibly sharp and fits in with the new technology platforms that Volkswagen is using to market the car, which in turn should appeal to the core market the company’s after. View the first film above, and click here to see the second version.

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In another new Polo advertising spin-off, Volkswagen have got together with five partners to find the ‘Timeless 50‘, in the fields of design, fashion, food, music and TV. The German giant has selected Livingetc, Marie Claire, BBC Good Food, Heart FM and LOVEFILM to help the great British public choose items which have ‘timeless potential’.

Ten items from each field will make up the ‘Timeless 50’, voted for out of a list of between 20 and 50 items in each category. Once the definitive list is complete, voters will be in with a chance to win the items on it, or even a new Polo of their very own, the inspiration for the whole competition and poll.

You have to sign up to vote and not only will you obviously get more information on the car itself, but also be in with a chance of winning dinner at Le Manoir in Oxfordshire and £500 of Selfridges vouchers, through entry into a prize draw. There’s also 5 x £100 Selfridges vouchers for the runners up.

Voting and prize draw entry closes on 15 November. Choose your ‘Timeless 50’ by clicking the banner below.

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Volkswagen is, quite rightly, making a splash about the new Polo. With the first cars hitting showrooms this Friday, it has launched the Polo Timeless Film Festival. Why timeless? The company is promoting the car as a timeless piece of design.

With a trip to New York up for grabs, all you have to do to take part in the Polo Timeless Film Festival is to vote for your favourite movie. There are 10 films from which to make a choice:

• Top Gun
• Grease
• Love Actually
• Pride and Prejudice
• Atonement
• The Devil Wears Prada
• 50 first Dates
• Mamma Mia
• Bridget Jones
• Sex and the City

The winning film will then be screened free on allocated big screens around the country on either Thursday 29 October or Tuesday 3 October.

Online entry for the New York competition closes on 25 October 2009, with the draw taking place on 6 November. Personally, we’d vote for the period-defining Top Gun from the 1980s. But then again, Grease is one of our favourites… (We also haven’t seen half of the others.)

Click here and get voting!

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