Fallon McElligott has wrestled the pounds 10 million Skoda UK
account out of Grey Advertising and has been briefed to launch the car
manufacturer’s latest model, the Fabia, early next year.
Skoda, which is part of the Volkswagen Group alongside VW, Audi and
SEAT, will remain aligned at Grey across the rest of Europe.
Chris Hawken, Skoda UK’s head of marketing, said: ’For a number of years
we have had a great product, but been unable to alter perceptions of the
brand. Fallon McElligott has shown us a compelling way forward.’
Skoda, which was at one time universally maligned, has built up a
reputation for reliability throughout the 90s.
Perceptions of Skoda’s performance have soared since 1991, when VW
bought it from the Czech government for pounds 750 million, but there is
still a stigma attached to the car.
Fallon’s advertising promises to confront Skoda’s problems while
highlighting the quality of the product.
Laurence Green, a partner at Fallon, said: ’Advertising challenges don’t
come much bigger than this. We’ve got the experience and the insight to
crack it.’
Green worked on Vauxhall at Lowe Howard-Spink and Richard Flintham and
Andy McLeod, Fallon’s creative directors, were responsible for some of
VW’s most famous ads when they worked on the account at BMP DDB.
Skoda spent pounds 7 million on the launch of the Octavia last June,
when Grey took the brand on to television for the first time in two
years. The ads offered a new brand positioning under the strapline: ’The
way things should be.’
Media buying for the Volkswagen Group is centralised at MediaCom
TMB.
In the US, Fallon McElligott handles the advertising for BMW of North
America.
