- #1
Dagenais
- 290
- 4
First, I'd like to note that I'm not sure whether this is in the right section or not.
How many of you have catched that new Volkswagen commercial for the Phaeton, featuring an African-American father and his young son (around 10).
It shows the father and the son happily riding along. The kid was in the front seat, which I think is illegal for his age. Not sure...
Anyways, they're riding along in this $65,000USD overpriced Volkswagen, the annoyed father explaining to his kid what all the features of the cars are for.
I'm sitting on the sofa thinking to myself, they completely missed their correct market. I don't have any business training, but I know a bad commercial when I see one, and I'm sure most of you do too.
Someone, I think it was BlackVision, showed statistics that African-Americans have the lowest average income. Asians with the highest.
So, why did Volkswagen choose casually dressed African-americans? Is this the market they are aiming for?
That lead me to another question. If I worked for VW and I was the President of Marketing, who would I choose to be in the commercial?
The answer was immediately a rich Caucasian person. She would be in the car by herself, in a nice, effeminate business suit wearing a watch. Using the features of the car for business purposes.
Now to me, this would be the correct audience. VWs are sometimes known to appeal more to women then men. Plus, those who can afford $70,000 cars are probably high-ups in the business field, medical professionals, or other professional positions (lawyer, accountants).
It would also shout independence, because it's a female by herself, driving the car herself. Volkswagen Phaeton = Independence. Stereotypical and sexist...yes, but it works.
If you were part of a marketing team, and you had to choose who to market a $70,000 car to, who would it be?
In my opinion, Volkswagen completely missed their correct target. I'm not saying that African-Americans can't afford these type of cars, but statistically other races have a better chance. Plus, I've both witnessed and read that American cars such as Lincolns are more popular in their culture.
Why not Asians? The race with the highest annual income?
Am I missing a major social factor here that determines a market for a car? What do car manufacturers usually research before putting out these commercials?
How many of you have catched that new Volkswagen commercial for the Phaeton, featuring an African-American father and his young son (around 10).
It shows the father and the son happily riding along. The kid was in the front seat, which I think is illegal for his age. Not sure...
Anyways, they're riding along in this $65,000USD overpriced Volkswagen, the annoyed father explaining to his kid what all the features of the cars are for.
I'm sitting on the sofa thinking to myself, they completely missed their correct market. I don't have any business training, but I know a bad commercial when I see one, and I'm sure most of you do too.
Someone, I think it was BlackVision, showed statistics that African-Americans have the lowest average income. Asians with the highest.
So, why did Volkswagen choose casually dressed African-americans? Is this the market they are aiming for?
That lead me to another question. If I worked for VW and I was the President of Marketing, who would I choose to be in the commercial?
The answer was immediately a rich Caucasian person. She would be in the car by herself, in a nice, effeminate business suit wearing a watch. Using the features of the car for business purposes.
Now to me, this would be the correct audience. VWs are sometimes known to appeal more to women then men. Plus, those who can afford $70,000 cars are probably high-ups in the business field, medical professionals, or other professional positions (lawyer, accountants).
It would also shout independence, because it's a female by herself, driving the car herself. Volkswagen Phaeton = Independence. Stereotypical and sexist...yes, but it works.
If you were part of a marketing team, and you had to choose who to market a $70,000 car to, who would it be?
In my opinion, Volkswagen completely missed their correct target. I'm not saying that African-Americans can't afford these type of cars, but statistically other races have a better chance. Plus, I've both witnessed and read that American cars such as Lincolns are more popular in their culture.
Why not Asians? The race with the highest annual income?
Am I missing a major social factor here that determines a market for a car? What do car manufacturers usually research before putting out these commercials?