What inspires people? For some, it’s idyllic thoughts of what the future might hold. But for others, it’s thinking back to a time when things were a little less complicated.
Marketing—and in particular, copywriting—is uniquely positioned to stoke these feelings. In the early 1960s, Volkswagen of America debuted a groundbreaking, copy-based ad campaign for their vehicles that would not only define the company’s image for years to come, but launch what would become the “mad men” era of advertising.
Unpacking an old approach
Where other contemporary automotive companies of the day chose sex appeal for marketing, the Volkswagen campaign took a more subtle approach—one almost entirely spearheaded by copywriting, with vehicle illustrations left to a minimum.
One such ad leads with a rather unremarkable photo of the 1960 Volkswagen Beetle with the caption: “Lemon,” followed by copy that reads, “This Volkswagen missed the boat. The chrome strip on the glove compartment is blemished and must be replaced. Chances are you wouldn’t have noticed it.” Another pokes fun at a NASA feat of scientific engineering that still boggles the mind—the Lunar lander—with the pithy caption: “It’s ugly, but it gets you there.”
Other notable copy samples include, “It makes your house look bigger,” “Think small,” and, “If you run out of gas, it’s easy to push.” To our modern sensibilities, these can all seem rather quaint, because let’s be honest: they are.
But consider the American political and cultural landscape of the ‘60s these ads were made for. While still reeling from the aftershocks of World War II, the country soon became embroiled in the decades-long Cold War, a conflict characterized by espionage, clandestine operations, and confusion. With tensions and unease dominating the airwaves—now more readily accessible than ever thanks to home television and automotive radio sets—people were desperate for the surer things in life.
It’s here we find the essence of why that old copywriting approach worked so well for this Volkswagen campaign: they used copy to zero in on how people actually used and thought about Volkswagen vehicles, with a refreshing degree of honesty and self-awareness. Today, we often only spot this sort of candor from companies when they’ve something to apologize for. It’s almost shocking to observe an automotive giant like Volkswagen readily admitting back in the ‘60s that yes, sometimes their cars break down and no, they’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, so to speak.
Revitalizing a legend
Of course, as time marches on, so too did Volkswagen’s marketing approach. But in 2023, when it came to debut the ID. Buzz, a North American electric vehicle refresh of their legendary bus which hasn’t been manufactured in 20 years, Volkswagen launched an ad campaign that updates their modest copywriting approach of old for the modern era. The campaign was driven by the agency Johannes Leonardo and features digital ads prominently displayed in Times Square, downtown LA, and many popular bus routes throughout the country.
Each ad contains three core components: the vehicle in the center, a two-tone background where the top half is solid white and the bottom half matches the vehicle’s color, and a left-aligned sample-size bite of copy. These tout pithy observations and turns of phrase like, “Missed the bus? Us too”, “Hello, sunshine”, “A glass half full”, and “Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.”
If the tone of these seems somewhat familiar, that’s because they’re intentionally written to emulate the old Volkswagen campaign. VW’s landing page for the ID. Buzz alludes to this history with copy like, “The comeback we’ve all been waiting for is here. In case you couldn’t tell, we’re talking about the bus,” and “Old-school cool meets new-school fuel”.
The digitally animated nature of many of these ads gestures toward the modern, even futuristic vibe inherent to electric vehicles, a newer and often mistrusted fueling approach. In doing so, the company draws a connection between today’s ID. Buzz and the tried-and-true Volkswagen vehicles their 60s campaign did such a stellar job of selling.
Understanding why it works
Why invoke the past now?
People have more choices than ever before. While often wonderful, this truth inherently makes purchasing decisions complex and overwhelming. It’s of little surprise, then, that people today often yearn for back-to-basics approaches to everything from the entertainment they love—note the recent surge of remakes and new adaptations of existing intellectual property throughout television, movies, and video games—to, yes, the cars they purchase.
But this surplus of choice seems to conflict with Volkswagen’s decision to invoke this old copy approach. From a copywriter’s perspective, if I pitched a client today on writing about their products or services with a vision that says, “We’ll tell your customers your products will work no better than just fine,” I’d be lucky to get a polite decline out of them. After all, why would anyone want a product that postures as anything less than the absolute best?
Volkswagen can get away with revitalizing this approach because it’s become so tightly interwoven with the brand’s history. If you know the ads, when you think about a Volkswagen, you don’t just think of the Beetle, you think of, “Lemon,” “Think small,” and so on.
Still, any automotive company posturing their goods and services as anything less than the absolute cutting edge of technology and capabilities can backfire. It’ll always be true that when making the significant investment of purchasing a new vehicle, people will (rightly) demand luxury, convenience, safety, and quality.
To that end, while the new copy is in conversation with the succinct, almost aloof style of the
‘60s ads, it lacks the same self-deprecation. So rather than simply emulate something that made sense before, the ID. Buzz campaign is a forward-thinking revitalization of the old campaign that meets this moment in Volkswagen’s history.
Driving toward the future
I know what you’re thinking: that’s all well and good, but I don’t work for Volkswagen. Our brand has its own history; what’s the takeaway?
This Volkswagen campaign wisely understands that the ‘60s ads are the stuff of marketing legend, but as is, they wouldn’t land today, hence the lighter, more positive twists. Instead, they weighed the Volkswagen of 2023 against their wider history and tailored an approach accordingly.
That’s the key: the success of any marketing campaign demands sharp copy strategically aligned with insights on what makes your brand tick. Volkswagen’s more reserved, candid approach in the ‘60s and today won’t serve every brand’s interest.
So, if you need a dedicated team of copywriting experts that can craft strategic copy informed by your experts to capture hearts and minds, get in touch with MarketSmiths today!
