The World’s Longest Cover Letter
Volkswagen AG
Issue 6 | July 2008
Agency
Tribal DDB GmbH
Creative Team
Hartmut Kozok - Executive Creative Director;Thomas Bober - Creative Director ;Jan Hertel - Copywriter ;Andrea Schlaffer - Art Director
Production Team
Kristina Olsson - Agency Production
Other Credits
Nadja Saländer - Client Consulting
Date
June 2007
Background
The new Golf Variant is the longest Golf of all time, its total length an impressive 4.55m. The new model is intended to compensate for a slight drop in market share. It is an A-segment estate car with a sporty, dynamic design, which is also extremely practical. This had to be communicated in an extraordinary way.
Idea
Direct mailing gave the agency the opportunity to dramatise the unexpected: the journey from the driver's seat to the boot. In an epic work of travel writing, the cover letter provides an entertaining description of all the benefits of the Golf Variant, the classic letter accompanying the brochure becoming the sole message.
Results
Up to 5% test drives, depending on the list.
Target Audience
Predominantly male target audience who are married, middle-aged with children. As well as convenience they attach particular importance to quality, safety and value for money.
Our Thoughts
It's wonderful to see an agency willing to recommend a long sales letter. It's even better to come across a writer who knows how to craft one. Obviously they've absorbed all the sales arguments and then written them in a lovely, lighthearted narrative that describes consumer benefit after benefit after benefit. SH