Volkswagen.co.uk
Challenge
The previous Volkswagen website had launched in 2001 and while it had been efficient at delivering information to consumers, it provided neither a real brand experience, nor did it help
move people towards sale. We needed to create something different for Volkswagen that would:
- Create a brand experience to reinforce the brand values and deliver the customer to a point of purchase, or repurchase, in a state where they are emotionally excited and rationally convinced about Volkswagen’s products or services
- Develop a data platform for ongoing communications based on customers’ motivations for purchase and their online and offline behaviour
- Open the dialogue between the brand, our retailers and our customers and strengthen the relationship between all three parties by being the facilitator of meaningful connections
- Create journeys that drive customers to retail environments to purchase products and services.
Insight
By modelling the behaviour of different customers to the site, we were able to build a website that
makes every stage of buying a Volkswagen intuitive.
The heart of the website -the configurator- smoothes out the complexity of buying a Volkswagen
and presents the customer with a relaxed, enjoyable experience.
Whether exploring the full car range via 3D models, getting the chosen paint colour sprayed on,
or finding the right finance package for your perfect car, the site uses that thoughtful Volkswagen
tone of voice. You can even find a nearby retailer to test drive the model you’ve configured.
Impact
The project spanned 18 months of planning, selling, conceptualising, user experience architecting, design and development. Over 90,000 visual assets were laser-scanned into the asset database, which was also
programmed from scratch.
More than 90 million car configurations are possible: using logic captured from the factory
mainframes, only the engine, wheels, colour, and accessory combinations on offer are available
on the website.
- YTD visits are up by 12%
- Repeat vis itors up by 5%
- Conversion is higher than ever
- YTD test drive requests up by 17%
- Printed brochure requests up 56%
‘Just a brief message to say well done on the website … I know a huge amount of work has gone
into it and I think the end result is on brief as ’the world’s best automotive website’. It must be
good, even the guys from Audi liked it when talking to them today!’
Rod McLeod – Marketing Director, Volk swagen UK
