Automotive News Europe - July 2019 - 9

AUTOMOTIVE NEWS EUROPE

Q&A

QA Decarbonization
VW marketing chief helps 'kick-start' brand's bid to become an EV leader

he Golf-sized ID3 is the first model
from Volkswagen Group's MEB platform for mass-market electric cars, which
is a key component in the automaker's
goal to become the global EV leader. VW
brand marketing boss Jochen Sengpiehl
is leading a wide-ranging redefinition of
the VW brand identity. It will include a
new logo and a new digital hub that will
"bundle all touch points." He discussed
this and more with Automotive News Europe Correspondent Andrea Malan.
Why did you start the campaign for
the VW ID3 compact electric car a
year before deliveries begin?
For the fundamental transformation of
Volkswagen toward e-mobility we are pursuing an entirely new marketing approach.
We are starting much earlier than usual
and not only talking about the product. Because many people are not as familiar with
e-mobility as they are with internal combustion cars we want to provide information and break down prejudices.
Will the long lead time help you better understand how customers will
react to EVs so you are better positioned to sell them?
We aren't just concentrating on the prebookings. We want to learn what motivates our customers. Thanks to data-driven marketing we know where they come
from, we know where they go, which
content they like and don't like. With our
recently launched ID.Hub, we will learn
how to improve ourselves. We have never
worked like this before. Other companies
started selling electric cars many years
before us. We have to kick-start our efforts and make sure we do things right.
Who is the ID3's target customer?
Using social demographics and psychographics we have identified for the first
time a global target audience that we
call "aspirational middle class." With
all innovations, however, you have this
diffusion curve. The Golf appeals to the
masses. Tesla appeals to innovators.
After the innovators come the early
adopters. We want to target those early

JULY 2019

adopters. That's why our communication
is more edgy than with our conventional
cars. If you catch the early adopters, the
others will follow.
Are these car buyers younger than
VW's typical customer?
It's more a matter of mindset because
people of all ages are interested in
electrification. That being said, most
of the people are younger than buyers
of a combustion engine car. The early
adopters earn very good money, work
at startup companies, live in urban environments, are well educated and move a
little bit faster than the rest.
Does your new marketing strategy for
the ID3 signal the end of Volkswagen
We ecosystem for mobility services?
On the contrary. It will help to develop
Volkswagen We further. It is the ecosystem that will pool all our digital services
for the car and beyond. Our goal is to
have one customer data platform. Very
much like Google ID or Apple ID [which
contains users' personal information and
settings so they are automatically recognized even when they enter through
a different portal within the company],
our customers will get their individual
Volkswagen ID so we can identify them
when they enter our ecosystem and offer them exactly the services they want.
To achieve this, we are working on a
new global website for 120 markets that
will be the gateway to VW. When you
come back to our website, you will get
the screen you have left. We are creating
thousands of individual user journeys.
What do you mean when you say that
the forthcoming eighth-generation
Golf will be digitalized?
Like the ID3, the Golf 8 will have an operating system that will be on our automotive
cloud 24/7.The ID3 and the Golf 8 will be
the first high-volume cars that will be updated and upgraded over their life cycles,
either at the dealership or over-the-air.
What is the advantage of having the
car connected 24 hours a day, seven
days a week?

Meet the marketing boss
❚ NAME: Jochen Sengpiehl
❚ TITLE: VW brand Head

of Marketing

❚ AGE: 50
❚ MAIN CHALLENGE: Helping to

build up VW brand's credibility as
a maker of full-electric cars.

It will be like your smartphone. This is what
people expect today. With a connected car
you will be able to book products, functions and services. We are working with
external partners such as Microsoft to
implement this digital ecosystem.
Will this service be included in the
car's price or will a customer have to
pay a subscription?
It's too early to say.
Who will own the data?
The question of "data ownership" is currently still under discussion in Germany
and Europe. We are transparent about
how we use data and ensure that we
fulfill the data protection requirements.
Data is the equity we have in the future.
Everything will transition very quickly
toward data-driven analytics and datadriven marketing. ANE

www.autonewseurope.com

http://www.autonewseurope.com

Automotive News Europe - July 2019

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