Volkswagen Brand refresh 2019
Volkswagen Brand Refresh 2019 is one of the largest projects of this type in the industry worldwide. This is in-depth coverage on Volkswagen 2019 Rebranding.
Volkswagen unveiled its new refreshed brand identity through a press release dated 09/09/19.
The Volkswagen Rebranding
The strategic foundations for the new brand design were not laid by external agencies but by a joint team of Volkswagen Design and Marketing. The design was implemented with the full integration of all departments of the company in the record time of nine months using a powerhouse concept developed by Volkswagen, especially for this purpose. A total of 19 internal teams and 17 external agencies were involved in the project.
Volkswagen’s rebranding is one of the largest projects of this type in the industry worldwide. All in all, 171 markets are concerned. At the 10,000 facilities of dealers and service partners throughout the world, about 70,000 logos will be replaced.
At the start of the 2019 International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, the Volkswagen brand presented its new logo and brand design. This world premiere marks the start of a new era for Volkswagen, accompanied by the presentation of the full-electric ID.3¹ at the same time. The realignment of Volkswagen’s brand design is one of the world’s largest rebranding campaigns.
The global changeover is to be implemented using a cost-optimized, resource-conserving approach. Initially, the brand’s locations and dealers in Europe will be changed over, followed by China in October. The changeover will then be implemented step-by-step in North and South America as well as the rest of the world from the beginning of 2020. The roll-out is to be completed by the middle of next year.
Volkswagen Brand Board Member for Sales, Marketing and After Sales“Over the past few years, the Volkswagen brand has fundamentally realigned itself. At Volkswagen, the future is electric, fully connected and will have a carbon-neutral balance. We have taken and implemented bold decisions in almost all areas of its activities. The comprehensive rebranding is the logical consequence of our brand’s strategic reorientation. It marks the start of a new era for Volkswagen.”
The seven premises of Volkswagen Brand Refresh 2019
‘New Volkswagen’ heralds a new era for Volkswagen.
The new brand presentation makes this transformation
visible. Volkswagen has completely revised its design,
its corporate identity, its visual language and the way the
brand communicates. The key premises were as follows.
1. People first
Volkswagen wants to focus their activities and communications even more strongly on people and the customer.
2. Digital first
For Volkswagen digital touchpoints are becoming more and more important. The new CI will develop its full effect in this area.
3. New attitude
The new brand design expresses Vw’s new attitude. Vw wants to be human, inviting, transparent, responsible and authentic. The car, its design, and the underlying technology are always there to serve people.
4. Brand differentiation
With the new brand design, Vw wants to distinguish themselves more clearly from the competition again. Customers must know that with Vw they are well-cared-for.
5. Total brand experience
In future, our brand will feel the same and
provide the same experience across all touch
points, irrespective of where the customer
meets Volkswagen.
6. Global brand governance
In the future, Volkswagen will once again have a uniform presentation throughout the world.
7. Designed for everything
The new brand design will function both
for MQB and for our MEB vehicles.
Key Elements of Volkswagen Brand Refresh 2019
- Logo
- Moving Frame
- Sound Logo
- Visual Language
- Digital
- Light
- Brand Platforms
- Brand Voice
1. Logo
The most important symbol and the core of the brand is the logo. It represents the essential link between the product and the brand.
The new logo has been reduced to its essential elements. It is two dimensional, flat, open, offers high contrast and ensures clear visibility. It can be used simply and flexibly and is outstandingly recognizable in digital media.
The digital application was especially important for the development of the logo. With the new two-dimensional design, Volkswagen wants to ensure that the logo is displayed in an optimum way in all media – on large hoardings as well as on a smartwatch.
2. Moving Frame
Formerly, the Volkswagen logo was shown in a fixed position in the bottom right-hand corner of every advertisement and other communication. The new ‘moving frame’ offers greater flexibility. The ‘moving frame’ will move nimbly across our digital user interfaces, taking the logo with it. It will always be shown in the most effective position This will mean that the new logo can also be displayed effectively on smaller devices.
3. Sound logo
The Volkswagen brand is not only changing in visual terms but also acoustically. Instead of a brand claim, the brand will have a powerful sound for the future for the first time – the sound logo. This will also make the Volkswagen brand distinctive in acoustic terms. This sound will be heard not only in the vehicle but also in Volkswagen’s communications such as TV and radio commercials. External communications and the product experience in the vehicle will be integrated.
4. Visual language
The new brand visual language will be much bolder, more powerful, more colorful and more natural than in the past. The images are to create topics and tell stories focusing on people and society in their diversity and colorfulness. The main focus will not be on products but on the people who live with the products.
The presentation of the vehicles will also change. It will no longer be necessary to show the entire vehicle and to ensure perfect lighting as was often the case in the past. The objective is to show realistic, authentic situations that customers can identify with.
The new visual language applies to all Volkswagen models whether they are powered by internal combustion engines or are part of the new ID. family. They will all be presented harmoniously as part of the Volkswagen brand despite their detail differences. Different realms of images will be created for different product categories more colorful with a stronger focus on people.
5. Digital
The digital touchpoints are becoming more and more important as customers are increasingly using digital media as their main source of information on products. The new brand presentation will, therefore, have a strong focus on interaction. It has been created for the digital age.
Personalization is an extremely important topic as Volkswagen needs to reach its target groups much more efficiently, especially in digital marketing.
In the future, the objective will be to create an almost individually personalized user journey for each user in order to satisfy their personal needs.
6. Light
Light will become the key element in communications and will also be a new style element for vehicles. Light is the new chromium.
The Volkswagen logo will develop its full effect, especially in the twilight, with lighting.
7. Brand platform trade show
Volkswagen’s IAA stand will be the basis of Volkswagen’s temporary brand platforms. ‘New Volkswagen’ was presented to the public for the first time at the IAA 2019. The show stand will be the blueprint for Volkswagen’s global presence in the future.
7. Brand platform dealership
On the marketplaces too, the logo, the moving frame and light will play a key role, with a view to creating a pleasant atmosphere. In general, the cost to dealers will be kept as low as possible. In architectural terms, there will be no change to the interior of the dealerships.
8. Brand Voice
For several decades, Volkswagen has used a male voice to present its vehicles and for advertising purposes. The brand is now to become female. On almost all markets, a woman with a warm, pleasant and confident voice will speak for Volkswagen.
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