Killing of a cult
By Yashesh Shethia
I have loved cars ever since I can remember. Maybe even before I started school. Way before I started working to earn a living. Decades before I joined chlorophyll (a brand consultancy in India).
I did all the things one should do, collect posters, models, die-cast models from Matchbox and followed some of the brands that made the fastest cars, even dreaming that one day I’d have one in my garage. (you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one!)
Naturally, Porsche made the list. Particularly the 911 (it is a favorite even today) (and you always say nine eleven not nine one one 
And I remember loving the Porsche TV ad…when a kid walks in to a showroom to check out the new 911, which he is then allowed to sit in, even recall his eyes sneaking up behind the steering! There was that glee and excitement in his eyes!
It’s an iconic ad of sorts, I am sure most of you would have seen it, but here it is anyways.
Porsche 911 clip
A few weeks back, VW launched an aggressive campaign to support their India launch. One of the TV commercials has a similar theme, a kid walks in, is shown all the models and when they will fit in to his life, ending with his father finding him at the showroom (all the characters seem soooo artificial). Have a look at the TVC here.
There is no doubt once you see both these ads, that they share the same lineage (more so with VW and Porsche now being part of the same group).
But riddle me this.
Why would Porsche (or VW) allow another VW ad to take this route?
Being inspired by the original is one thing, but how do you justify this?!
To me its like the killing of a cult.
Tags: brand communication, Porsche, VW, VW India
May 13th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
it saves time and efforts buddy
@ 911 nice choice i say !!
July 14th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
Hi yashesh!
Interesting observation there…However, a few of my own observations:
1. A cult brand is not made by its advertising alone, my friend..sure, the ad might be a part of the memories and associations with the brand..but creating a cult brand requires creating passionate user communities that go beyond mere advertising..so, i do not think this advertising would be enough to kill it as u say…
2. As u rightly said, maybe the shared lineage is something that the parent company wants to capitalize on; maybe looking for some recall ruboff onto VW?I mean, tht’s the only logical explanation that I can look for as I imagine a creative team not ideating but playing along the same theme would do…
as long as it is not replicating it bit by bit and not cannibalising either, i guess it is fine??
3.finally, maybe it is as simple as the person above put it, saves time and money
And yes I do agree..Porsche 911 is a terrific choice
July 21st, 2010 at 9:27 am
Hey Pravin,
In this post, ‘killing of the cult’ was a reference to the Porsche Ad which has acquired that cult status, not so much the brand. I should have been more specific
And totally agree that brands are no way built only by the advertising (in fact in my mind, advertising would play the least important role). The role that it should have played in this case, was to inspire. I am not quite sure it did that.
To those who are not aware about the Porsche-VW connection, the TVC did not really help make it either. May be there wasn’t a need for it.
And as far as the ‘as long as it is not replicating it bit by bit and not cannibalising either…’ LOL, May be it’s just me, but I would be possessive about Porsche. Koi wannabe brand replicate kare or inspiration le to theek: but VW? Not so sure
And about Pratyush’s comment about it saving time and money… In dono ke liye to aaj kal log kuch bhi karte hai, so maybe valid ;-)!
Thanks for commenting Pravin and Pratyush. Apologies for the delayed reply.