The television and print campaign was devised by Grey Worldwide, which has just snatched the national Passat account from Ogilvy & Mather Shanghai.
"The theme is that business is like war, so we're talking to an audience who are successful business people, says Viveca Chan, chief executive officer of Grey Global Group for Hong Kong and China.
"Passat in China is actually an upper-end car because it's relatively expensive and unless you're quite successful you probably can't afford it, and usually a car like this will be for both personal and business use.
"A lot of car advertisements just say 'this is for successful people, so if you drive this you'll be successful', says Chan. "We'd rather not say it, we'd rather just have the audience feel it. We wanted to get into the businessman's mindset and mentality; they're fighting a war every day, and it's linking how they feel about business with the car's features."
The Passat campaign lists "the laws of success in the business world" and associates them with the car's features. For instance, the script says "whoever masters change wins", highlighting the car's transmission system.
Sonja Kurono, marketing and strategic development manager at SAIC Volkswagen Sales, said that while car ownership in China still paled in comparison to that in more developed economies, it was a thriving market for sales and showed no sign of slowing. VW sold more than 7,500 Passats in July alone.
"I don't think it will cool down, Kurono said. "It's a natural situation for a country which is experiencing a boom phase. I think that people's basic intention is to try to broaden their ownership of property and assets, and the Government is making it easier to own things like cars. I don't think this is just a temporary situation."
O&M had held the Passat account since the car was launched on the mainland in 2000, and still handles several other VW brands in China, including Santana. Grey, meanwhile, was assigned the customer relationship management business for the Passat, Polo and Santana brands earlier this year. Kurono would not be drawn on the reason for the switch in agencies for Passat, but said the relationship with O&M was still strong. "We don't have any intention to let go of Ogilvy, she said.
The 'Gallery' TVC for Passat was shot on a set built in Shanghai, and outdoor segments were filmed in Xinjiang, in China's far north.
VW declined to reveal the cost of the campaign, but Passat takes the largest share of its advertising budget and last year accounted for Rmb 98 million in adspend (about US$12 million).
