Volkswagen is planning its first global ad campaign to tie in with the remake of the classic 1933 movie King Kong.
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The ad for the Touareg premium SUV will be the first fruit of VW’s global marketing alliance with Universal Studios.
VW’s tie-up with the American film company, which was announced in January, is the German automaker’s single biggest marketing project to date.
VW says it chose to promote the Touareg with the forthcoming Hollywood blockbuster because the SUV’s on-road and off-road capabilities fit in well with the image of King Kong, an outsize gorilla that marauds through New York City.
Ad agency Grabarz & Partner of Hamburg is developing the campaign for the Touareg. The campaign will debut in the autumn before the movie’s global release in December.
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By GlobalDataVW’s operations in individual countries will decide whether to run the campaign or use their own ad agencies to create alternative versions.
VW marketing operations are traditionally managed at country level.
“We can’t enforce this alliance on our country operations, but which of them would not be happy for us to provide a Tom Cruise movie for their TV campaign, for example?” asked Emanuela Wilm, a VW spokesperson for lifestyle communications.
The Universal Studios’ tie-up, which was announced in January, is an attempt by VW to inject more emotion into the brand.
“VW cars are known to be established and reliable but not for having an emotional touch,” said Wilm. “We’re trying to emotionalise our cars and our company through co-operation with the movie business.”
As part of its alliance with Universal, VW can use in its ads scenes from any of the film studio’s movies.
The deal is signed for three years with an option to renew. It is VW’s only global marketing alliance.
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