When I was studying Advertising I aspired to write an ad as good as one of the classic Volkswagen Ads created by the creatives at Doyle Dane Bernbach (DDB). Starting with Art Director Helmut Krone and Copywriter Julian Koenig, together with Creative Director Bill Bernbach… DDB changed the face of car advertising.

Instead of fancy photography, mansions, sexy models and heavy retouching… they used an advertising style that utilised realistic photographs of the car together with copy that talked to the reader as if it were a close friend and was self-deprecating rather than self-congratulatory. This approach meant that Volkswagen was seen as the first car company to offer a friendly straightforwardness and disarming honesty.

The effect that these ads had on the car’s sales were dramatic. in 1953, sales of Volkswagens were just over the 2,000 mark. By 1958 sales had topped the 150,000 mark and by 1962 were reaching 200,000. So powerful and memorable were the ads that car salesmen would have people arriving on the forecourts with the latest VW Ad headline on their lips.

So, open this book and be astounded not only by the level of creativity that’s on every page… but the simple selling brilliance that turned Volkswagen into one the most beloved car manufacturers and advertisers of the modern age.

Tags: Art Direction, Award Winning Advertising, Bill Bernbach, Car Advertising, Copywriting, David Abbott, Direct Marketing Agency, Doyle Dane Bernbach, Helmut Krone, Julian Koenig, Manchester Advertising Agency, Photography, Press Advertising, TV Advertising, VW Ads

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