New Volkswagen – how does a global brand reinvent itself?

At Volkswagen, 2019 was a year of change. The brand’s future is electric, fully networked and balance-sheet CO₂-neutral: In autumn, the first production model of the fully electric ID. family – the ID.3 compact car – celebrated its world premiere at the International Motor Show (IAA) in Frankfurt, Germany. Only a few weeks later, series production started at the Volkswagen plant in Zwickau. The numerous “Volkswagen We” services offer numerous practical simplifications in the car and on the smartphone. And last but not least, Volkswagen has devoted an unprecedented amount of attention to the issues of sustainability and environmental compatibility.

All of this proves the case: The Volkswagen brand realigned itself, if not reinvented itself, in 2019. The most visible expression of this reorientation is the new logo, which Volkswagen unveiled at the same time as the ID.3 premiere at the IAA. The design is innovative, the logistics of the rebranding impressive: it is no less than one of the most complex adaptations of a brand image worldwide.

ID. family – emission-free mobility for all customers

Many things are new, but the basic idea behind Volkswagen remains the same: The brand’s aim has always been to make mobility and technology accessible to many people. “With the Beetle, Volkswagen has created individual mobility for everyone, and the Golf has democratized new technologies,” says Ralf Brandstätter, Chief Operating Officer (COO). “With the ID.3, our aim is now to make emission-free mobility attractive for all customers.”

With the ID. family, Volkswagen will become the most sustainable volume brand in the world: By 2025, Volkswagen wants to be the global number one with more than 20 e-models and one million e-vehicles sold. And finally, all Volkswagen models will become fully networked accessories, mobile service providers and living rooms.

“Volkswagen We” for the best possible user experience

With the digital ecosystem "Volkswagen We", the brand brings the world of its customers into the car – with the best user experience and diverse mobility services that make everyday life easier and more enjoyable. On this basis, the company is translating its brand promise into a new era: even in the electric and digital age, Volkswagen enables individual mobility for millions of customers worldwide – affordable, sustainable, reliable and fascinating.

Volkswagen is developing from a pure automobile manufacturer to a provider of modern mobility solutions with which the company aims to make everyday life easier and more enjoyable for its customers. To this end, the communication structure in marketing was reorganized. In this way, the transformation of the company can be felt and experienced worldwide in equal measure.

Appearance bolder, more colorful and digitally aligned

This is one of the reasons why Volkswagen is giving itself a new external look. The future appearance will not only be more courageous and colorful but will also be digitally aligned from the brand logo to the visual worlds. The brand image language will be very different from the way Volkswagen has presented itself up to the present. Jochen Sengpiehl, Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Volkswagen, explains: “In the future, it will no longer be a question of showing a perfect advertising world. We want to be more human and livelier in our presentation, take the customer’s perspective more seriously and tell authentic stories.”

The symbol and trademark is the new logo. It is more modern, clearer and simpler. Reduced to its essential components and with a new flat 2-D look, it is flexible to use and perfectly recognizable in digital media. This also applies to the new brand symbols such as pictograms, typography, colors or layout guidelines. For the first time, the brand receives a sound signature that will replace the former brand claim. In addition, the Volkswagen brand voice will be female in the future.

New Volkswagen: Logical consequence of strategic realignment

“Volkswagen has made and implemented courageous decisions in virtually all areas of the company. The comprehensive rebranding is the logical consequence of the strategic realignment of our brand,” says Jürgen Stackmann, Member of the Volkswagen Brand Board of Management for Sales, Marketing and After Sales. “I am very proud of what we have achieved: ‘New Volkswagen’ has a strong and fresh, positive and sympathetic presence.”

At the same time, this revision offers a great opportunity to make Volkswagen a strong, new brand that can be experienced around the globe. “New Volkswagen” describes the dawn of a new world in which digitalization and networking make customer communication more data-driven, personalized and much more individual. For the new appearance, form and image language, corporate identity and communication styles have been completely revised. The following six guiding principles played an outstanding role:

People first. All activities are to be focused even more strongly on Volkswagen customers.

Digital first. Digital media are to become the key points of contact with the customer.

New attitude. The new brand design expresses the new attitude of Volkswagen: human, open, inviting, transparent, responsible and authentic.

Brand differentiation. The new brand design is to make the differences between Volkswagen and its competitors clear and perceptible.

Total brand experience. Thanks to 360° communication, Volkswagen will provide the same experience across all touch points, irrespective of where the customer is located.

Global brand governance. Whether in China or in South America, Volkswagen will once again have a uniform presentation throughout the world. The new brand design will function both for our MQB and for our MEB vehicles.

New Brand Design – the design originated out of the team from Volkswagen Design and the Marketing Team

The inner transformation of the brand, its vision and its new attitude are also visible to the outside world in the New Brand Design. The strategic foundations of the new brand image were not developed by external agencies, but by a joint team from Volkswagen Design and Marketing under the direction of CMO Jochen Sengpiehl and Chief Designer Klaus Bischoff. The implementation took place in a record time of nine months in a powerhouse concept involving all areas of the company. It was specially developed for this purpose.

The short development time was possible because everyone involved agreed on a courageous approach to New Brand Design at a very early stage. The working title: “Vibrant Power”. The idea: Instead of showing a perfect advertising world, the brand should become more human and livelier, take the customer’s perspective more seriously and tell authentic stories. “We want to illuminate people’s everyday lives with our products,” says Jochen Sengpiehl. “Many customers develop an intimate relationship with Volkswagen, and some even give their cars names. We want to convey this natural, the emotionally connecting quality.”

With its development into the leading mobility service provider and provider of e-mobility for millions, Volkswagen is facing the greatest challenge in its corporate history. Strong partners can help to shape this change successfully. There could hardly be a better time for the partnership with the German Football Association (DFB) and the national team.

Volkswagen is Europe’s largest automobile manufacturer, the DFB the largest sports association in the world – together the two partners can make a difference. The aim of the cooperation is to bring Volkssport and Volkswagen even closer to the general public as partners in the spirit of the sport. And at the same time, the reorientation of the brand to make its transformation and pioneering role in e-mobility a tangible experience for many social classes.

New orientation, new employees

For the reorientation of the brand, especially in the direction of electromobility and digitization, the company also needs new specialists. This is why Volkswagen launched a new recruitment marketing campaign in 2019. The aim is to draw the attention of digitization, electrification and IT experts more actively than before to attractive job and development opportunities at Volkswagen. The guiding theme is therefore short and concise: #hello possible. Since this October, potential candidates have been approached in a cross-industry 360-degree campaign – through film, print ads, on digital channels and out-of-home advertising.

The focus of the campaign is the image film “hello possible”, which introduces “New Volkswagen”. Andrea Morgan-Schönwetter, Head of Recruiting & Talent Marketing, says: “Volkswagen is not just about the vehicle, but about developing innovative and sustainable mobility concepts for the future. To achieve this, we rely on people with the right mind and skillset.”