I came to the Volvo Canada C30 site because I am shopping for a car. And I prefer brands in general that are open to customer feedback and involvement. I started on an inside page - driven there by James Cherkoff. So I see this feedback page:
My first reaction is: "Oooh, they let customers say nasty things lihe the "FFF-word" about their brand, how bold!"
Hogwash! This is just another case of an ADVERTISING agency drunk on mad Flash skills creating some long-loading branded entertainment. The trippiness of the experience doesn't match up with my understanding of the Volvo brand but the new car is probably trying to break from that mold. Does this type of entertainment-based "engagement" lead to any kind of brand preference? (If the recipe for engagement includes time-spent, you will need to subtract all the Flash loading time as it creates a horrible extension of the experience)
The experience is all about the advertising and the cleverness of the agency. Even in this "Message Board" you will see as many blurts about the spots as about the pictures of the car.
Somewhere inside Volvo, there is a customer-sensitive voice saying "how can we really engage with our customers?" I wish someone would listen and siphon off budget from the interactive ad agency budget and give it them to create a truly meaningful customer interaction.
As a car buyer, will I deselect Volvo? Probably not but that's because I know how hard it is for companies to resist this ad-centric form of communication. And I don't live in Canada.
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