VW first entered the US market in 1949. Unless you saw it at the factory, you probably never saw one on the street. Only two units sold that year. Six years later, “the Beetle” sold one million vehicles into the hearts and minds of its owners.
Today, VW is firmly positioned as a brand that elicits an emotional response from its customers. I think their advertising does a great job of making the viewers want to buy the car now. Have you seen their SignThenDrive campaigns? I think they do a great job of making a compelling reason to poke the customer to make a decision and satisfy their urge for immediate gratification. Does the logo have anything to do with that? Hmm. For some, maybe. For others, no.
Is A Logo Physical Or Emotional?
We can start with a little background on me the blogger. I am a repeat VW customer and passionate owner. Bias, maybe. Trying to give you an unbiased commentary, yes.
VW does have a loyal following with passionate owners, a great product, and does a great job of trying to elicit an emotional response from their customers. I purchased a VW not only because it is a quality product, but also because I like what it represents. It’s German automobile technology, heritage and quite frankly, cool, stylish and trendy. VW does a fantastic job of reeling-in the customer to make them want to feel cool about themselves, especially when driving their cars. That’s great marketing. But, does it answer the question about the logo being physical or emotional? I do think VW’s logo is a nice one, I like it. For me personally, it does not elicit an emotional response. However, it does make me smile when I look at it because I know it represents a cool, trendy brand that I own.
My Vote
My vote is that Apple’s logo is 80% physical and 20% emotional. I know, you were probably expecting the pendulum to be completely one way or the other, but I just don’t feel VW fits either perfectly. Sorry VW. I love your cars, but in my opinion, you don’t make me highly emotional when I look at your logo.
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Scott MacFarland
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Sources:
Photo Credit: My car 🙂
VW
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volkswagen
Sign Then Drive Campaigns
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxXrSqvkJDo
VW