VWe Isn’t Limited To Driving Experiences; It Is About Developing Brand Affinity: Volkswagen India’s Ashish Gupta

This year, Volkswagen India unveiled its new community-centric initiative, Volkswagen Experiences (VWe). This program is designed to bring customers and fans of the brand together for a more enriching experience with Volkswagen. With the launch of VWe, the brand also introduced ‘The 1st Chapter: An Exhilarating Expedition to Ladakh’, which offered customers a curated lifestyle, self-driving expedition across the Himalayas and into Ladakh. This immersive VWe journey through the serene landscapes of the picturesque Himalayas was organised in two expeditions, taking place from 9-14 June, 2024 and 18 -23, 2024.

The customers had the opportunity to drive the Tiguan, Virtus and Taigun. The brand had 45+ customers joining it for the expedition in Ladakh, with a mix of existing brand loyalists and prospects eager to join the Volkswagen family. 

Talking to BW Marketing World in an exclusive chat, Ashish Gupta, Brand Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars India spoke about enhancing customer and brand engagement through VWe, aligning VWe with the brand’s larger marketing goals, the evolution of experiential marketing in the automotive industry and more.

Edited excerpts:

How does Volkswagen India's Volkswagen Experiences (VWe) initiative aim to enhance customer and brand engagement?

Volkswagen Experiences (VWe) initiative is a customer engagement and connect program through which the brand aims to create interactive and lifestyle-related experiences for customers and fans. Through this initiative, we offer customers opportunities to create countless memories that will help them develop a deeper connection with like-minded enthusiasts and our brand apart from the traditional ‘dealership visit’. This will bolster the community augmented by a sense of loyalty and belonging for fans and enthusiasts alike. Volkswagen Experiences is an extension of our larger brand campaign ‘You’re in a Volkswagen’ that focuses on giving pure driving pleasure with its superior German Engineering & peace of mind that comes with the brand's safety and service.

Through the ‘First Chapter – An Exhilarating Expedition into Ladakh’, we offered participants the exemplary feeling of being inside our German-engineered products through a curated lifestyle adventure experience. With them being at the helm of the steering wheel, driving through unexplored territories, and discovering majestic landscapes and rich traditions alongside local savouries became a rewarding experience overall. 

Similarly, we aim to connect with more like-minded enthusiasts and customers of the brand in the future, building a stronger connection and association with owning a Volkswagen. 

How does the VWe initiative align with Volkswagen India's broader marketing goals?

At Volkswagen, we endeavour to be a loved brand across the world. Taking that strategy ahead in India, we have created our positioning of ‘You’re in a Volkswagen’ that is based on the philosophy of ‘Experiencing a Volkswagen’.

Volkswagen Experiences (VWe) is an extension of our positioning, by creating curated experiences and programs for customers, prospects and enthusiasts, bringing them closer to our brand. Through this program, all participants can experience superior build quality and German engineering, feel safe and secure with our 5-star GNCAP-rated product portfolio and experience the thrill of driving a Volkswagen. The initiative isn’t limited to driving experiences but is about developing brand affinity and bringing a sense of belonging and community to our customers. 

How has experiential marketing for the automotive industry evolved, and how does Volkswagen Experiences leverage this trend?

Experiential marketing has significantly progressed over the years, it is an evolutionary process based on audience acceptance and interest. Brands across industries have gone through the phases of traditional marketing methods from visiting dealerships and creating pop-ups in malls, to digitalised and augmented experiences that can be provided on mobile phones, digital kiosks, or QR codes. 

Today brands provide many experiences at the click of a button, and consumers are looking for more and more opportunities to connect with people one-to-one, by being part of communities. They are looking for curated and exclusive experiences that brands like Volkswagen can offer. Consumers these days prefer being part of activities that take away the hassle of organisation, they are willing to pay a premium for the peace of mind experience that’s enjoyable. 

Keeping these attributes of today’s consumer, Volkswagen Experiences aims to connect these like-minded people, whether they are customers or fence-sitters. 

How does Volkswagen India ensure that the curated experiences during the Ladakh expedition and future expeditions align with its brand values?

The brand values or core DNA of Volkswagen is, offering our customers unmatched safety and a fun-to-drive experience. Along with providing a ‘twinkle in the eye’ experience for our customers and that’s our continuous endeavour through all our activations. 

In the First Chapter – Ladakh expedition, our customers experienced a fine combination of both man and machine, driving through challenging terrains, wide roads, and tunnels crossing through high passes and expressways testing the capability of the Volkswagen cars. 

How is Volkswagen tailoring its overall marketing efforts to reach out to the target demographics for Volkswagen Experiences?

At Volkswagen, we have committed ourselves to becoming ‘the most loved volume brand’. We tailored our marketing efforts to target audiences that seek adventure, and a sense of belonging through our active communities and who also aspire to own our product offerings and search for experiences that go beyond owning a car. 

With the First Chapter – Ladakh, we are building our community for Volkswagen Experiences and reaching out to all our existing and prospective customers through our dealership engagements across the country, social media platforms, word of mouth and emailers. 

The program was also communicated largely through event listings on platforms like BookMyShow and Paytm Insider. Customers can sign up for future Volkswagen Experiences events through our website. 

We also collaborated with journalists from key trade magazines and influencers from the automotive and lifestyle space who further amplified VWe through their publications and social media handles. 

What partnerships or collaborations did Volkswagen India establish to enhance the marketing and execution of the Ladakh expedition?

In association with India’s top automotive media influencers, we amplified the First Chapter of Volkswagen Experiences in Ladakh. For the first time in history, automotive influencers were taken to the highest battlefield, which is at Siachen. Enabling them a once-in-a-lifetime drive experience, driving across different terrains with the Volkswagen Taigun, Virtus and Tiguan. The media were led in a convoy of over 20+ Volkswagen cars, all the way from Ladakh to Siachen Glacier passing through Nubra Valley.

Neha Kalra

BW Reporters She is the Senior Editorial Lead at Businessworld and majorly covers pieces on advertising, marketing, branding and experiential marketing. She writes closely for BW Marketing World and Everything Experiential.