Volkswagen
Think Small
The Golden Thread
Problem: We cannot pretend to be what we are not. Our weaknesses are our strengths if we own them.
Tension: Rational independents see through advertising hyperbole. They respect honesty and practicality.
Position: For people who think for themselves, Volkswagen respects your intelligence because it tells the truth.
Platform: Celebrate smallness as a virtue. Use radical honesty and self-deprecation.
Definer
The Brief: The Beetle was a small, ugly, German car entering a market that worshipped big, flashy American vehicles. Everything about it was wrong.
Problem Reframe: We cannot pretend to be what we are not. Our weaknesses are our strengths if we own them. Honesty in a category of exaggeration is revolutionary.
Category Convention: Car advertising shows big, powerful, glamorous vehicles with aspirational lifestyles. It exaggerates and inflates.
Targeter
Audience: Rational Independents
Tension: They see through advertising hyperbole. They respect honesty and practicality. They do not need a car to validate their identity.
Positioner
Position Statement: For people who think for themselves, Volkswagen is the car that respects your intelligence because it tells the truth in a world of exaggeration.
We Are Not: Flashy. Exaggerated. Status-seeking. Conformist.
Strategist
Direction: Celebrate smallness as a virtue. Use radical honesty and self-deprecation. Let simplicity in design and message signal intelligence.
Forge: Territory Exploration
Honest Understatement
Radical simplicity. Negative space. Anti-advertising advertising.
Feel: Quiet, intelligent, confident
Practical Truth
Functional benefits told simply. No exaggeration.
Feel: Trustworthy, rational, clear
Self-Deprecation
Admitting flaws. Lemon. Making weakness strength.
Feel: Disarming, surprising, likeable
What The Creatives Made
Print ads with tiny car images swimming in white space. Headlines that admitted flaws: "Lemon" (rejected for minor defect), "Think small." The campaign invented modern advertising and made honesty the strategy.
"Think small."
Why It Worked
- Turned every weakness into a strength through radical honesty
- Created visual language that stood out by not shouting
- Respected audience intelligence in a category that assumed stupidity
- Proved that exclusions (no exaggeration) force creative breakthrough