I came to the Volvo Canada C30 site because I am shopping for a car. And I prefer brands in general that are open to customer feedback and involvement. I started on an inside page - driven there by James Cherkoff. So I see this feedback page:
My first reaction is: "Oooh, they let customers say nasty things lihe the "FFF-word" about their brand, how bold!"
Hogwash! This is just another case of an ADVERTISING agency drunk on mad Flash skills creating some long-loading branded entertainment. The trippiness of the experience doesn't match up with my understanding of the Volvo brand but the new car is probably trying to break from that mold. Does this type of entertainment-based "engagement" lead to any kind of brand preference? (If the recipe for engagement includes time-spent, you will need to subtract all the Flash loading time as it creates a horrible extension of the experience)
The experience is all about the advertising and the cleverness of the agency. Even in this "Message Board" you will see as many blurts about the spots as about the pictures of the car.
Somewhere inside Volvo, there is a customer-sensitive voice saying "how can we really engage with our customers?" I wish someone would listen and siphon off budget from the interactive ad agency budget and give it them to create a truly meaningful customer interaction.
As a car buyer, will I deselect Volvo? Probably not but that's because I know how hard it is for companies to resist this ad-centric form of communication. And I don't live in Canada.
After a decade of good experience with Acura I bought a Volvo S80 in 1999. HUGE mistake! Not only because of the increadibly poor quality of the car - which I'm sure they fixed after the first model year - but Volvo's totally arrogant approach to customers: a mix of denial and ignorance. A fool-proof way for Volvo to guarante I will never ever look in their direction.
Posted by: Zoli Erdos | May 05, 2007 at 07:25 PM
Don't buy a Volvo. Whenever I hear that name I think back to when I was a kid and all these suburban mom's driving around in the big boxy Volvo station wagons so popular in the 70's and 80's. At least back then they were quality cars. Ever since they became Ford's, the quailty has dropped.
Check out BMW and Audi.
Posted by: Stephen Marino | May 07, 2007 at 07:23 AM
You can't say anything about a brand on a blog these days without attracting a few trolls can you? This is a conversation about advertising strategy and not the reliability of the cars. Get a life guys.
Posted by: Lee McEwan | May 15, 2007 at 02:40 AM