Tales of the Touareg and other adventures in branding

--> Tales of the Touareg and other adventures in branding You're not likely to see a Volkswagen in the winner's circle at Daytona or Indianapolis. But if there were competition called the Brand-Building 500, you would find a Volkswagen in the winner's circle, year after year. Everyone knows the touchstones of branding - creating value, consistency, visibility and loyalty. However, like auto racing, these fundamentals are easy to talk about, but a little more challenging to execute. Nearly anyone can steer a car around a track. But winning consistently against fierce competition in a variety of locations and conditions requires considerable skill.

Few companies are more skilled than Volkswagen at building customer loyalty. Owners become emotionally invested in their cars, invent pet names for them and treat them like extended family members. In addition to automobile devotees, the company has many more admirers who are fans of the brand. Their irreverent image and clever television ad campaigns speak to young buyers today with a message that's consistent with the one used to sell Bugs to their parents 30 years ago. If you're a hip, free-spirited kind of person who wants a car with personality, come join us. Among marketers, the company's promotional prowess is legendary:

The last original VW Bug, forerunner of today's modernized Beetle, rolled off the production line in 2003 - the last of 21,529,464 sold worldwide since the 1930s. In addition to dozens of Bug restoration and repair books, several compilations of VW's popular print ads have been published.

A "Transparent Factory" in Dresden, Germany features glass walls that enable residents to witness the manufacture of VW luxury sedans. Finished vehicles are displayed in a glass tower before being delivered to their new owners.

In 1973-74, the company sold 30,000 VW "Things" - a re-badged German military vehicle that looks very much like the offspring of a jeep and a dumpster - to enthusiastic U.S. buyers.

In fact, even as Europe's largest automaker, VW has been successful in defining a sort of exclusive club for younger, educated drivers. Many of these buyers start with a Jetta or a Beetle before moving on to the company's more luxurious offerings.

And now comes the Touareg, VW's entry into the luxury SUV market. Touareg is apparently a first-rate SUV with what USA Today calls "style, grace and growl." But Touareg? Come on. Passat is an odd name, but "Touareg" sounds like something that needs calamine lotion.

Worship me or die

Perhaps Touareg has some poetic meaning in Slovakia, where it is built. Or perhaps the industry is simply running out of good car names. It's a good bet that if you looked through enough sci-fi novels, you would encounter an evil warlord called Touareg the Terrible who aims to enslave a galaxy or kidnap a lovely Empress. What's next? Ming the Mercury? The Plymouth Vader? On the other hand, a "Worship Me or Die!" ad campaign for the Touareg would be a refreshing change of pace from those friendly, self-deprecating Beetle commercials.

On the plus side, it's a pretty safe bet that Touareg doesn't mean "won't go" in Spanish and won't offend Wiccans, Jaycees or the Saharan nomads the vehicle is said to be named for. But VW could have accomplished that by calling it the Type 181, which is what the Thing was called during its hitch in the military. Perhaps Volkswagen thought that all the good rugged locale names, like Tahoe and the Santa Fe, were taken. The VW "Peoria" or "Levittowner" just wouldn't have the same cach