The resulting information will then be used to build marketing plans tailored to suit each target market.
said Ralf Laudenbach, deputy general manager of SAIC Volkswagen Sales China.
The project is the result of a year's preparation by VW and Grey Relationship Marketing, a new business unit of Grey Global Group comprising up to 30 staff. It will go live in stages, beginning this month. It includes an extranet link between VW and dealers across China, allowing the company to distribute industry information and training materials, and measure the success of different dealers.
Under the programme, emails will be sent automatically to customers at certain points in the buyer cycle, for instance to assess their satisfaction with their car two weeks after purchase, reminding them they are due for a service, or telling them about a new model launch when they may be due to replace their car. The programme, which focuses on the Santana, Polo and Passat models, will also track media coverage.
"It's sophisticated to a level that very few other companies have been doing anywhere in the world,
said Theresa Franklin, director of relationship marketing for Grey Worldwide.
Laudenbach said VW already had a basic database of more the 1.6 million Santana buyers but that this project was in an entirely different league.
"The difference is that the data that currently exists on consumers is not geared up to solicit ongoing information. To turn that information into real workable marketing knowledge is the leap we are making in China. This will change our work tremendously,
he said.
Grey said the cost of the project was confidential. Viveca Chan, chairman and CEO of Grey Worldwide China and Hong Kong, said other clients were now working on CRM products in a similar vein, but these initiatives have not been in the same scale as VW.
Laudenbach said he could see the China project forming a template for VW's CRM work around the world.
