Ad Watch: Volkswagen Tiguan and the Parking Duel

No matter where you live, searching for a parking space is a frustrating experience and can often lead to a confrontation with another driver vying for the same spot.
Recently, advertising agency DDB Argentina took this modern day problem and morphed it into a clever car commercial title "Volkswagen Tiguan: The Duel" to showcase the compact SUV's hands free parking system.
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Audi's El Clásico: A1 Real Madrid CF vs A1 F.C. Barcelona

The countdown for one of the most important and publicized football matches of the year, the first El Clásico of the season between Real Madrid and Barcelona, has begun. On Saturday, December 10, the two Spanish football teams will face each other for the 216th time (including UEFA, Super Cup and Copa del Rey matches).
But before we see the two teams on the field, Audi's marketing time wanted to give fans an automotive perspective of the match with a special spot titled "La pasión vuelve a dejar huella".
The video shows two Audi A1 hatchbacks dressed in the colors and liveries of Real Madrid and Barcelona battling it off on the tarmac. You can watch the duel in the video after the break.
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Fiat Banks on Spicy Abarth 500 Spot, Gives it the Pop-Up Treatment

Why stop when you have a good thing going? And with some 2.2 million views on Fiat's official Youtube channel alone, we'd say the company's 500 Abarth Seduction clip starring Romanian hottie Catrinel Menghia, has been a very successful communication tool for the Italians.
Now, less than a month after the original digital spot made its internet debut, Fiat has released a so-called "pop-up" version by VH1 that incorporates some fun facts about the clip and the two protagonists that will run through the end of December.
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Put a Socket on it: Nissan Celebrates Leaf's First Birthday with an Ad

It's been about 365 days or a year since Nissan launched its new pure-electric Leaf onto the market and to celebrate the event, the Japanese company released a commercial featuring household electric-sockets singing the traditional 'happy birthday song'.
Over the course of a year, Nissan says it has sold more than 19,000 Leaf hatchbacks worldwide. In the U.S., sales of the all-electric model have totaled 8,720 units through the end of November. Just this week, Nissan announced that it is going to expand the availability of the Leaf to seven more states starting from spring of 2012.
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New VW Up! Commercial Reminds us of Big Things that went Extinct

"The future belongs to the small," says Volkswagen and to prove its point, the German automaker came out with a new commercial for the recently launched Up! city car.
The advert takes us on a quick journey through history showing us numerous "big things" that eventually went extinct, from dinosaurs to 1940s swimsuits and from 1970s sideburns to 1990s lexicons.
The spot is smart, to the point and reaches the Up!'s youthful target audience. Hop over the jump to check it out.
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BMW Reveals New "Eclipse" Media Campaign for the 2013 6-Series Gran Coupe

BMW Reveals New "Eclipse" Media Campaign for the 2013 6-Series Gran Coupe

Despite the fact that the 6-Series Grand Coupe’s world premiere will take place in March at the Geneva Motor Show and the first cars won't be arriving in showrooms until next summer, BMW has already readied a media campaign for its spanking new sports saloon. The global campaign, which will launch in print and TV media in the second quarter of 2012, features a total eclipse of the sun as the central theme and the motto “Beauty. Revealed”.
BMW tells us that the beginning of the commercial, the new version of the 6-Series will be barely visible, but as the eclipse progresses, the firm's newest model will gradually come into light. When the eclipse ends, the sun will come out and the Gran Coupe will be fully revealed.
“The new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe marks the beginning of a new chapter. It is BMW’s first four-door coupé and combines uncompromising driving dynamics with exclusive elegance and breath-taking design”, said head of BMW communications Andreas-Christoph Hofmann. “The campaign uses the image of a solar eclipse to highlight the model’s uniqueness.”
You can take a peek at the print ads right after the break.

VIDEO: The new BMW 6 Series Gran Coupe

BMW Reveals New "Eclipse" Media Campaign for the 2013 6-Series Gran Coupe

Despite the fact that the 6-Series Grand Coupe’s world premiere will take place in March at the Geneva Motor Show and the first cars won't be arriving in showrooms until next summer, BMW has already readied a media campaign for its spanking new sports saloon.
The global campaign, which will launch in print and TV media in the second quarter of 2012, features a total eclipse of the sun as the central theme and the motto “Beauty. Revealed”.

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Bah, Humbug! Are Holiday Car Ads as Effective as Automakers Think?

Tis the holiday season and all consumer goods manufacturers are looking for ways to draw clients to their products. Carmakers are not an exception, of course, and a common theme is the usual holiday gift-wrapped-present.
Advertising evaluation firm Ace Metrix, though, reveals in its latest report that the hype automakers wish to create with these kinds of ads doesn’t really materialize. In fact, they may have the exact opposite effect.
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VW to Return to Super Bowl with New 60-Second Ad on the 2012 Beetle

There's no doubt that this year's Super Bowl XLV played host to some original commercials but the one ad that stood out more than the rest was "The Force" from Volkswagen, the official YouTube version of which has garnered over 45 million views since it aired on February 2.
Volkswagen actually aired one more commercial during the game, the “Black Beetle”, which has been seen by more than 5 million viewers on the German firm's channel.
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Kia Ray Opens Doors and Honks its Horn to Play Jingle Bells Tune [Video]

With only a few days left for Christmas, Kia has jumped on the holiday season bandwagon releasing a cheerful new ad featuring the brand's Ray city car that was recently launched in South Korea.
The commercial shows the Ray playing along the Jingle Bells tune with the sounds being created by opening and closing the tall hatchback's regular and sliding doors, hood and compartment area dividers, as well as by using its turning signals, warning jingles and horn.
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Two “i”s Can’t Make a Wrong: BMW and Apple Join Forces to Launch iAd in Europe

Looking for new ways to market its new “i” sub-brand, BMW has chosen to launch three new digital channels through foursquare, Mashable.com and iAd. The latter is Apple’s mobile advertising platform used by third-party developers to apply ads into the applications downloaded to the users’ iPad, iPhone and iPhone touch mobile devices. .

Hyundai Canada Pitches a Scented Veloster for Christmas Trees

A lot of advertisers try to capitalize on the Christmas season to draw our attention on their clients' products, but few actually manage to succeed. One of the efforts that did manage to grab our attention this season comes from Hyundai Canada.
Instead of a tree-shaped air freshener for cars, Hyundai Canada and its advertising agency Innocean Canada came up with a novel idea of sending customers a Veloster shaped freshener for their Christmas trees. A simple yet effective idea.
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Get Your Kicks on “Route 66” Super Bowl XLVI Chevy Ad – and Win $10,000 in the Process

The NFL Super Bowl game is the most watched American TV broadcast of the year: in 2011, some 111 million viewers watched the Green Bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31 to 25. It broke the record held by the 2010 game, which itself had shattered the 28-year old record held by the final episode of M*A*S*H.
It’s no wonder then that companies not only pay huge amounts of money to place their ads, but also want those ads to make an impression on the biggest TV audience in the U.S.
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Dodge Grand Caravan Spot Belittles GM's Deceased Pontiac and Saturn Brands

While General Motors may be taking a swipe at Chrysler with its announcement on the recovery of a stolen 300 sedan equipped with its aftermarket OnStar FMV system, the Auburn Hills-based carmaker had its own moment of Zen with a new commercial on the Dodge Grand Caravan.
The 30-second ad is called "The Right Tool for the Job" and it's part of a new campaign for the Dodge Grand Caravan that will be followed by four more spots in the first quarter of 2012.
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