Volkswagen launches new Tiguan campaign

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 02:02 PM PDT

“It feels good to know you could” – this is the message of the advertising campaign for the new Tiguan. The TV commercial is in the same tradition as recent Volkswagen campaigns. With a slightly tongue-in-the-cheek approach, the short film promotes the off-road properties of the new SUV, which also puts up a good show on the road. For the market launch, the Tiguan commercial “Girls” is to be shown on German TV for the first time today. This will also be the start of the entire campaign, including printed advertisements, posters and a special website. The new Tiguan is to be promoted in this way in a number of European markets. “Our objective is to give the Tiguan a younger and cooler position without sacrificing its high-quality image,” explains Luca de Meo, Head of Group Marketing and Head of Marketing, Volkswagen Passenger Cars.

TV commercial makes its debut in Germany today
Message: “It feels good to know you could”
Market launch campaign to run throughout Europe

The commercial was filmed for four days in the centre of Los Angeles. An area closed to the public near to the Californian metropolis was used for the off-road sequences. Actor Tom Astor himself played some of the driving scenes while others were shot with a stuntman. The soundtrack features “Road Song” by Flaming Wheels.

Immediately after the commercial had been filmed, the photo shoots for the printed advertisements and posters took place in the desert around Tekopa Springs and on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. The advertisement and poster motifs are based on visual imagery new to Volkswagen and also feature the motto “It feels good to know you could”. The start of the campaign coincides with the market launch of the new Tiguan. From today, the Touareg’s smaller sibling will appear in dealers’ showrooms. Like its predecessor, the new Tiguan is the only SUV in its class that is available in versions tailored for on-road use or especially for off-road driving. The two models are distinguished by different front ends. Both models feature greater independence, higher dynamics and more precise styling.

The Tiguan is one of Volkswagen’s most popular models throughout the world The highest-volume markets are Europe, Russia, the USA, China, Brazil and Australia. All in all, some 700,000 Tiguans have been sold since the fall of 2007.

The “Girls” commercial

Length: 45 seconds (to be followed by a 30-second version later)
Creative agency: DDB, Berlin
Actors: Tom Astor, Monica Gambee, Lori Lively and Kelly Sullivan
Director: Marius Holst
Camera: Stefan Austmeyer
Production company: Soup Film, Berlin
Location: Los Angeles, California/USA
Music: “Road Song” by Flaming Wheels
Print
Motifs: Six in all
Creative agency: DDB, Berlin
Photographer: Uwe Düttmann, Hamburg
Post-production: Elisabeth Winter, Hamburg

Volkswagen presents the new Tiguan in Geneva

Volkswagen launches new Tiguan campaign

Nurburgring 24 Hour: Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid in second place after 2 hours

Posted: 25 Jun 2011 10:22 AM PDT

ONEIGHTURBO

Nurburgring 24 Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid

The Porsche teams have made a good start to the Nürburgring 24 hour race. After just over two hours and 17 laps on the legendary Eifel circuit, the innovative Porsche 911 GT3 R Hybrid fielded by the Porsche Team Manthey lies in second place. Start driver was Joerg Bergmeister (Germany), who shares the cockpit with his Porsche works driver colleagues Richard Lietz (Österreich), Marco Holzer (Lochau) und Patrick Long (USA). The Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of Manthey Racing with Porsche factory pilots Marc Lieb (Germany), Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) as well as Lucas Luhr (Switzerland) follow directly behind in third place.

Sitting 12th is the Porsche 911 GT3 R fielded by the Haribo Team Manthey with Richard Westbrook (Great Britain), Christian Menzel (Germany), Mike Stursberg (Germany) and Hans Guido Riegel (Germany). The Porsche 911 GT3 R of Falken Motorsports, manned by Porsche works driver Wolf Henzler (Germany) as well as Peter Dumbreck (Great Britain), Martin Ragginger (Austria) and Sebastian Asch (Germany) currently ranks 15th.

Nurburgring 24 Porsche 911 GT3 R, Falken Motorsports

Quotes from the drivers

Marc Lieb (No. 18, 911 GT3 RSR, Manthey Racing):

“In the first lap it was rather difficult on slicks, but from the second lap onwards it has proved to be the right choice. Unfortunately I lost a lot of time behind a competitor who was zig-zagging over the track to prevent me from passing although I was faster. Otherwise, the car’s running well.”

Joerg Bergmeister (No. 9, 911 GT3 R Hybrid, Porsche Team Manthey)

“The first two laps with slicks on the wet surface were a little critical. But then the ideal line dried and from then on the driving was superb. We obviously had a little luck with our decision not to start on wet tyres, because it could have started to rain again.”

Wolf Henzler (No. 44, 911 GT3 R, Falken Motorsports)

“We decided to start on intermediate tyres and that was good in the beginning, I made up some places. But on lap two my right front tyres began to scrape and there was a little smoke. To be on the cautious side I drove into the pits. But basically everything was okay, we changed to slicks and I rejoined the race. It drizzled for a short spell and the track became slippery again. The traffic is heavy, above all it’s hard to anticipate what the many slower drivers are going to do. It was agreed that they should blink to show the faster ones what their intentions are. But that happens seldomly.”