VW's Sports Marketing: Targeted, Focused and Relentless

“If I get it in, do I win the car?” We were outside Qwest Stadium in Seattle, just before the Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City (the latter won). In a huge Volkswagen “activation” area, people were lining up to try and land a basket inside the sunroof of a VW Tiguan SUV. But no, the promotion—designed to showcase the size of the car’s sunroof—did not result in their winning the car. Instead, they walked away with VW-branded merchandise, like t-shirts and rain ponchos (it was Seattle). Many of the sports fans had even more reason to love VW: If they were driving one, they got free parking at the stadium.

Tim Ellis is director of marketing at VW, and he favors an aggressive approach that will help the brand achieve its extremely ambitious expansion plans. VW is the official automobile supplier of MLS, but that means a whole lot more than signage and a few commercials played during games. VW tries to plant its brand and image directly into the frontal lobes of sports fans through a truly hands-on approach that involves teams of subcontracted activation specialists not only following the MLS trail, but going to youth soccer events all over the country.

“A lot of brands just flash their logo up there,” Ellis said in an interview before the playoff game. “But we wanted deeper involvement and engagement with broader segments. And that meant engaging on a grassroots level and meeting the passion points.” VW’s American arm is based near Washington, DC and the team both sponsors the DC United soccer team and has a partnership with the Verizon Center, which hosts 250 events a year. “We use sports marketing to educate people about our products [which range from the compact Golf to the Touareg SUV] and build off positive awareness of the company,” Ellis said.

VW doesn’t have an image problem, exactly: People use associative words like “fun,” “cool,” “trendy,” “affordable” and “quality,” but they also, says Ellis, “think they know everything there is to know about the brand.” There is a low level of awareness of newer models such as the Tiguan, Routan and CC. “We suffer from our success,” Ellis said. “People know the New Beetle, the Golf and the Jetta, but they don’t know we have new vehicles reaching out to broader segments. Engagement with families is key.”

Ellis handed out the trophy for the league’s MVP award to LA Galaxy forward Landon Donovan, and if you follow the link you’ll see the company’s logo front and center.

The Tiguan and Routan are perfect vehicles for, dare we say it, “soccer moms.” The negative association with that phrase may keep them out of the Routan minivan, but “activation” events and association with professional soccer (the hip David Beckham was on the field that day, and the stadium was packed) may help them get over the negative connotations.

The activation corral (near similar installations for the Xbox and other brands) was a stopover on the way to the big game. Kids could get their faces painted, adults could get custom-made t-shirts—and VW used handheld devices to capture marketing data, including email addresses. In the hour or two leading up to the game, 3,500 to 5,000 people might come through.

One of VW’s challenge is to get customers to tune in to diesels, such as the new Golf TDI, and consider them an environmentally friendly choice alongside hybrids like the Prius. “It really is an education issue,” Ellis said. “People associate diesels with the cars of the past, which were loud, smelly and offered poor performance.” Does VW use diesel pace cars during events like the Chicago Marathon? You bet!

Ben Friedson is director of sports marketing at VW, and he says, “We are constantly measuring our effectiveness in the sports space. We go on site and ask survey questions starting with people’s satisfaction with the food service and the venue, and moving on to asking about their retention of the fact that VW is a sponsor.”

Another marketing opportunity is with the Hispanic consumers, who are passionate soccer fans. Only 11 percent of VW’s U.S. customers today are Hispanic, so there’s a growth opportunity there—especially since VW is a familiar brand in Latin America.

Ellis and Friedson said that the world of sports marketing is full of temptations: teams court sponsors with offers of exclusive dinners with stars and other glamorous perks. Auto brands might sponsor the U.S. Open just because the CEO is into golf. “I demand that it works from the top,” and I want numbers, such as cost per impression,” Ellis said. Once it’s approved, I want steady checks to see how it is working in terms of meeting our objectives.”

Salt Lake City won the championship. Was Friedson happy? He paused. “LA might have been good for us, but Salt Lake is good, too,” he said. If he had a personal opinion, he didn’t share it.