Volvo Cars announces new global marketing strategy

Volvo Cars today announced a new marketing strategy termed as ‘Volvo Way to Market’, focusing on four key areas - marketing tools, digital leadership, dealerships and service.

Volvo will place online sales and marketing at the centre of its marketing strategy and drastically upgrade its dealerships and service offering. The carmaker will in future concentrate on three key international motor shows, one each in Europe, the US and Asia. In addition, it will conduct an annual Volvo event to showcase its products and brand.

In order to achieve these goals, Volvo is increasing its marketing budget.

“The car industry is one of the most conservative, least evolutionary marketing clusters in global business,” said Alain Visser, Senior Vice President Marketing, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Cars. “For decades, car marketing has been following a certain pattern which is followed by the entire car industry. Now, Volvo Cars chooses to defy that logic and implement a strategy that is geared towards its own needs.”

“With the Volvo Way to Market, we don’t want to throw all existing marketing concepts overboard,” said Mr Visser. “Many of them exist for a good reason. We also don't want to have the arrogance to say that we are better than all the rest. But we do have the self-confidence to say that we are different. So our way to market needs to be different as well.”

The details of the new strategy include:

Marketing tools

Volvo Cars will gradually reduce its motor show activities and remain in one motor show per region per year: Geneva in Europe, Shanghai/Beijing in China and Detroit in the United States.

Digital leadership

Volvo plans an all new website for its consumers. It will start to sell online gradually across the globe. A first step in digital commerce was taken with the online-only sale of 1,927 Special Editions Volvo XC90 cars in September. 

The carmaker will offer customers a simple and functional experience: a fully-specified car which the consumer can then adjust based on personal taste and budget.

Dealerships

All new and existing dealerships will have a globally uniform lay-out and look and feel. Exterior and interior will look and feel Scandinavian.

All dealer staff will go through a training program to be familiarized with customer service processes and standards. European dealership staff will be dressed by Swedish fashion designer Oscar Jacobsson.

Service

Volvo Way to Market also entails the introduction of a Personal Service Technician for each and every Volvo customer. At the delivery a new car, the customer will be introduced to the Personal Service Technician who will take care of the customer and car throughout the ownership.

By 2018, Volvo plans to offer all its dealerships around the globe with this service as standard.