Ogilvy said the following of the advertising: "To advertise a car that looked like an orthopaedic boot would have defeated me. But Bill Bernbach and his merry men positioned Volkswagen as a protest against the vulgarity of Detroit cars in those days thereby making the beetle a cult among those Americans who eschew conspicuous consumption".
The advert is a brilliant example of positioning, headline, creative, and success (see our website for variations on the theme).
Creative aside, what do you think of when you hear "We'll Save You" (said in a nasally voice), or "Which Bank?" Clever advertising can take ownership of a phrase in common language giving rise to brand awareness.
The campaign has been considered so successful that Portland Business Journal said that it "did much more than boost sales and build a lifetime of brand loyalty [...] The ad, and the work of the ad agency behind it, changed the very nature of advertising... from the way it's created to what you see as a consumer today".
Good advertising is something people want to talk about, and brilliant advertising is something that warrants an entire book to celebrate the creative genius (many books were written on just this campaign).
The definition of extraordinary is the opposite of what everybody else is doing. Make creative great again!
