Volvo details its new global marketing strategy

The new generation of the Volvo XC90, which we saw at the recent Paris Motor Show, represents a turning point for the Swedish brand in several respects. In commercial terms, one of the innovations has been the sale exclusively online of the 1,927 units allocated to the First Edition with which the SUV is launched onto the market.

The formula proved a success: it took just 47 hours until all the examples sold out, with an average of seven orders per minute, according to Volvo on September 5. The manufacturer has today published the outlines of its new global marketing strategy. The online sale of vehicles is one of the most important points we are going to examine in more detail.

Several factors have influenced Volvo’s decision to back this additional sales channel. The First Edition experiment is complemented by the growing willingness of its customers to buy vehicles over the Internet, as confirmed by studies carried out by the manufacturer, as its marketing and sales director Alain Visser recalls in an interview with Automotive News.

So far very few brands have dared to use this sales method, and in some cases the experience has not been as positive as expected, such as the example of the BMW i8. However, the XC90 plays in a different league from the plug-in hybrid sports car. Setting speculation aside, Volvo hopes to allow its customers in the future to purchase any of its models online.

The vehicle configuration process will also change. Instead of designing the car from scratch, Volvo will apply what it calls “the designers’ choice”. The user will initially be presented with a fully configured proposal. They can then alter the various elements and parameters according to their tastes and the money they intend to invest in the purchase. At the end, the configurator will show the result in a dynamic scene.

The new sales channel will complement the traditional dealership network, whose image will be updated in an effort to evoke Sweden through various techniques.The emphasis on this system will be combined with the traditional dealerships. In the interview, Visser acknowledged that the brand cannot conceive of a future without its distribution networks. After all, even vehicles sold online will pass through those outlets during the handover phase to the customer.

None of the 2,000 dealerships Volvo has worldwide will disappear. Quite the contrary: they will undergo an improvement in their image based on a single aesthetic pattern that highlights and conveys the brand’s Scandinavian character. Various techniques will be used, such as offering Swedish food, perfuming the atmosphere with Nordic scents, or dressing sales staff in suits designed by Swede Oscar Jacobson.

The brand will reduce its sponsorship activities and become more involved in the Volvo Ocean Race.

Volvo will replace its presence at some trade shows with corporate events that allow its new products to achieve greater visibility.Achieving these goals will entail an increase in the budget that Volvo allocates to its global marketing strategy. At the same time, the company will be more selective when deciding its investments. Sponsorships will focus mainly on the Volvo Ocean Race, advertising campaigns will only run through certain media, and presence at motor shows will be limited to one show per continent each year.

In Europe we will see it at Geneva, in the United States it will attend Detroit (NAIAS) and in China, Beijing or Shanghai. Here is another turning point set by the XC90. Before appearing at the Paris Motor Show in October, Volvo presented the model in Stockholm in August.

The Guangzhou Motor Show, pictured, is among the events Volvo has ruled out.

This is a tactic that is already becoming common among several car manufacturers. The competition to capture attention at shows prevents new products from achieving the desired visibility. Consequently, brands prefer to unveil them in advance at corporate events attended by specific groups of the public, which offer the chance to appreciate in more detail what is displayed or announced.

Volvo knows that its figures for budgets, production, sales, etc., which it plans to record over the medium term, are below those of its premium rivals. With this marketing strategy it makes clear that it will emphasise the distinctive quality of its roots and other ways of expressing its particular image to offset this shortcoming and continue growing in the coming years.

Source | Volvo