DDB Sydney launches Volkswagen’s Luxury SUV Touareg to Australian Market with integrated push
July 11 2011, 11:56 am | | 53 Comments
Volkswagen Australia and DDB Sydney has launched an integrated campaign to introduce the luxurious and stylish Volkswagen Touareg to the Australian luxury SUV market.
Having aired for the first time on the 10th July, the new brand TV spot – ‘Sleepwalker’ – tells the sorry tale of a man who has fallen for the charms of his new Touareg, leading to the line ‘Fall in luxury’. Web banners and a dedicated microsite also invites Australians to ‘Fall in Luxury’ themselves whilst interacting with the Touareg and the character from the TVC. Four print executions shot by London-based photographer Nick Meek complete the campaign.
53 Comments
nice spot steve, dylan…
m
cute
I don’t get it.
Not knocking the ad – I’m a bit dumb sometimes.
But seriously, can someone explain it to me?
nice – the guy sleepwalks to his car because he wants to be in it so much. at least that’s what i got.
very good work, well done ddb
rare to see some proper storytelling. really nice tv.
where’s the print?
I agree with 12.57.
Well done to everyone at DDB, you seem to be kicking a few goals, but this leaves me a little flat.
Actually very flat, I don’t like it.
This spot is a bit like dating a very beautiful girl, only to discover she has absolutely nothing to say.
Very good – lovely pay off at the end… I actually laughed which is rare for me. I’m quite depressed generally. Think it’ll pick up
@ 1:57
And the problem with that is….
I dont get it.
i get it and i like it.
which now makes me feel superior to the people who didn’t, which i also like.
well done for making my monday
i like it. intelligent. fits the brand… VW are quickly becoming a good local client doing good solid work with DDB.
VW are possibly making the prettiest looking ads in Australia.
But scratch the surface and there’s nothing there.
Can’t DDB find something interesting to say, or an interesting way to say it?
I caught it on TV last night and I didn’t get it.
Quite, 2.26pm. Your reputation precedes you
Bit meh really. Didn’t need the extra 30 secs as the pay off is kinda weak. Nicely directed bit of fluff
Beautiful film, nice visual storytelling about a guy so obsessed with his new car that he can’t be apart from it, even at night, when he should be sleeping. The ‘Groundhog Day’ editorial and indie soundtrack are also nice touches.
We all get it, except maybe 3:09, but there is this lingering feeling for everyone we suspect that something is a bit off here with the premise, like why don’t we see him driving this unpronounceable jewel in the daylight hours as well? If he’s that obsessed wouldn’t you want to show him on the case and attached 24-7, day and night, or is this just a nocturnal obsession?
As it is, the Touareg, named after a bedouin people, and why might be another question, seems more positioned as a great mattress, or a comfortable hotel room than a vehicle. Maybe it’s a VW built for the homeless? A secure place to stay when you’ve lost your flat?
Curiouser, but then that’s advertising, no logic necessary really, like magical realism to some extent. Copywriters appear so often to be exempt from what other writer’s would see as the dilemma of having a huge hole in an idea. Lucky that.
The idea is:this car is so boring, it sends you to sleep..uh…I think that’s the idea.
I got it…. the guy keeps falling to sleep because the ad he is in is sooooo boring!
So the music is a rip off of Eternal Sunshine only without the production values!
I get it, the guy keeps falling to sleep because the ad is soooo boring!
nice.
intelligent.
single minded.
Well done.
I so wanted to love it, it had me all the way to the end (and going off their last campaign I was expecting it to be great) but then the pay off… It missed the mark for me. But their last campaign I rated highly. Along with Border security it’s the best Car stuff to come out of this country.
If you can take the criticism go fourth and conquer.
You guys are doing well, I’ve got a lot of respect for what Dylan is doing. If you’re reading (and I have a sneaking suspicion you are) I don’t know you mate but I have to say you have steadied that ship quite quickly and have gotten DDB to a place where the work in a years time will be better than anything that DDB has done in the past. If you’re not a CD you will never truly appreciate just how hard it is in this country.
Keep going. Between you guys, Clems Melbourne and Mojo Sydney you keep the breaks interesting.
Lovingly,
Anon
To those who didn’t understand this or say this ad has no depth….I truly pity
I like it… but I would like to see it as a 60″ 90″ seems a tad laboured.
Ooh, do tell more, 3.34pm.
Can someone explain why he ends up on the roof?
A little boring really. Pretty but very thin.
@ 5.13 He ends up on the roof because his keys have been locked in the safe, depriving him of entry.
@ 4.56 save your pity. You get it because you saw the 90 on best ads. Anybody should be able to tell a story with this length. But how often will it run in the real world? Condensing this story to a 30 or even a 45 makes it indecipherable to the average punter.
Award juries will love it. Punters won’t get it. I know who I pity more.
@3:53… i’m not sure you do get it.
he’s sleepwalking isn’t he? which explains why he’s naked and annoyed at the car… he doesn’t want to be in the car at night, but he can’t help himself. simple.
I like the TV, I think it’s cool.
So there.
He’s a sleepwalker…nice spot
beautiful piece of storytelling. saw it on tv – don’t think it was the 90, probably a 60 but it was lovely. nice track too. all in all a welcome break from the dross that normally ends up coming from ddb
Nice idea, beautifully crafted. And perfect for the brand. Shame there seems to be some confusion around the take out. While it mightn’t be glaringly obvious that he’s been sleepwalking, there are enough hints to help people close the loop. I don’t think the VW audience will have too much trouble.
I don’t understand that he’s sleepwalking and the acting is lame. I wanted to like it but sorry = failed in direction and execution. Shame. Nice idea as well.
Thanks, MK.
Finally someone from DDB explains the idea to the rest of us cretins who didn’t get it.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s not obvious on first viewing that the man is sleepwalking. It equally comes across as a man who loves his car so much he wants to be with it all the time.
Sure, calling it ‘Sleepwalker’ helps when it’s a script you’re trying to sell, but the viewing public won’t know what it’s called. And I doubt anyone will be watching with as much interest as you were in the edit suite.
He goes to sleep in his house. He wakes up in his car.
What is not to get?
No, I don’t work at DDB.
BTW, why is the’For Sale ‘ print ad so familiar? Anyone?
What’s going on over at DDB Sydney? Has the English influx to the agency brought out the worst punsters in adland?
‘Don’t be environmental. Be environormal’. See what they did there?
‘Fall in luxury’ Geddit? Geddit? No? Me neither.
Can’t wait for the next tortuous tag line, chaps.
Actually, having just seen the print I like the TV a lot more.
It’s actually a pretty shitty looking car to be honest, and the TV does a good job of sort of hiding that from you. That’s way harder in print though.
Given the Tourag was a disaster in its first incarnation, I’m surprised VW didn’t try a bit harder with the styling on MKII.
@3:17
I’m all for self expression and freedom of opinion on this blog – but it has to be somewhat intelligent.
Puns have different possible meanings.
‘Don’t be environmental. Be environormal’ and ‘Fall in luxury’ are not puns. They can’t be interpreted in any other way.
You could say you think the lines are tortuous and bad, but don’t call them puns.
Ok fool? You foolish sucka!
Sleepwalking? Really?
If us super-intelligent ad-nerds don’t geddit, what hope have the half-asleep public got?
Is there a competition between agencies to see who can do the most incomprehensible work?
It looks like a dead heat between this and the Virgin Mobile Medieval nonsense.
Which of the following current campaigns is the most incomprehensible?
A. Toureg ‘Sleepwalk’
B. Virgin ‘Medieval’
c. Telstra ‘Mime’
Just sayin’
http://www.tamilcreation.com/forum/showthread.php?58502-wallis-dress-to-kill
what a LOVELY ad.
Properly smart and well told. The people who don’t get it probably don’t get a lot of things methinks… and you know what, juries tend to be quite a smart bunch.
virgin: robin (da) hood = took from the rich gave to the poor = good value.
is this all really so hard?
just sayin’
lovely FOR SALE print btw, better than the other 2
Everyone who thinks this ad is ‘lovely’, have a look at Ted Royer’s choice for best ad this week, also for Volkswagen.
No post modern weirdness, no special effects, just a great idea, effortlessly delivered in 30 seconds. Takes me back twenty years, but in a good way.
Now THAT’S lovely.
I’m inclined to disagree, 8.55am. The ‘For Sale’ ad is the weakest of the three. The conceit that everyone in the street will now want to sell their car to buy the Touareg would look poor in any student’s book. It doesn’t fit with the other two print ads either.
i’m inclined to disagree 10:18 (and i’m not 8:55 so this could get complicated!)
i haven’t see that for sale idea before unlike the other 2 which are more familiar (wallis)
the one car that doesnt have a sign is the one that’s caused all the others to have a sign. i’ve judged many an award and that’s exactly the kind of simple swap / conceit that will pick up. i guess we’ll find out soon enough.
oh and i love the tv. agree that the tiguan (what is it with these ridiculous names??) is great too though. they’re very different: one is a human story that communicates desire for the product, the other is a very neat product demonstration.
2 ads. 2 ways to do the job.
i don’t feel the need to pick a side
a long walk for a ham sandwich.
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-volkswagen-133350
Nice film but the line? It just doesn’t seem to resolve the story. Anyway, nice direction.
perhaps better with a more of the trade-off angle the guy is going through: ie. The price of love kinda line…?