In its efforts to relaunch the Rabbit, Volkswagen is using some out-of-the-box marketing techniques developed by ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky. One of those is a video-rich Web site intended to
engage Web users and position the Rabbit as an ideal vehicle for city drivers. The site includes an element known as the Gypsy Cab Project, in which a character named Steve drives around New York City
in a Rabbit fitted out like a cab while offering free rides to strangers. The car is equipped with hidden cameras that record the rides and provide visitors to the site with voyeuristic views of
Steve's "favorite fares," including two girls from Switzerland freewheeling around the city and a West Virginia family whose patriarch spits tobacco juice out the window. "This is a cultural
experiment to learn about city driving," said CP+B Creative Director Rob Strasberg, who added that the effort has received minimal promotional support. "We're running ads in NYC pubs like
TimeOut and on Web banners. Mostly it's word of mouth and word of Web."
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