Thought you might be amused, want to comment on , this email I recently sent to Fallon re their cheeky but in my opinion crappy advertising for Skoda (they should 'fallon' their swords in my opinion):-

Dear Fallon,

I am happy for you that you won a prize for your work for Skoda, but I consider that you could have done much better than you did.

Is it truly necessary to face down the perceived stupid prejuduce against this company's cars by making a joke out of it? Surely this is in the long run self defeating? The message you are giving is rather too obvious, patronising to the company (although they apparently do not think so) and hard-wires the said prejudice into peoples' minds even more. As a second time Skoda owner I do find the ads simplistic and offensive.I think the cars and their owners speak for themselves, and that is why sales were up last year everywhere.

The deep sea blue Fabia Elegance Combi we have now is used as a diplomatic car by my wife. One evening, when it was new, in Copenhagen, my wife's chauffeur drove us to an official evening at the opera in it. It arrived amidst all the Mercedes and BMW of the other diplomats; cars that are, very frankly, no better in all important points, and certainly no more pleasing to drive than any Skoda. At the end of the evening our chauffeur was happy to recount how all his chums had gathered round to ogle the Fabia and admire all its very complete equipment.

We bought this car because for 9 years before we had a Favorit that cost us $5000 out of tax, and never gave a moment's trouble, costing, apart from cheap servicing, one new exhaust and 4 cheap tyres in all those years. We were very fond of that car, which lived alongside a Merc E class, a Volvo 850 T5 and today a Passat V5.

Might it not be more intelligent, on behalf of the lovely people at Skoda, if, having read the history of the company, one of the oldest in the World, by Messrs Kozisek and Kralik (as perhaps you already have done), you were to emphasise that these are beautiful cars with a long history, very well made, and very good value? There is also a long and continuous history of successful motorsport to consider.

There is more heritage and quality in this company than in any other in the VAG group, and most other surviving car companies to boot, and a great and fascinating history at that. These cars only developed a 'cheap' tag because of the war and communism (a small part of a long history), and in fact were always considered the best of the Eastern bloc cars and the only ones consistently exported to the West.

Why bang on about being sorry and apologetic about this great marque? Volkswagen obviously didn't think they were losers, although your approach will do little to convince Mr Pichetsrieder himself that it is worth investing good money in Skoda cars, even though he is a marque enthusiast. Thanks to your continuing promulgation (albeit 'jokingly', but so so clumsily) of the BS current still about Skoda, we might never see a Superb Combi come on the market, and, as diplomats, this would be our next car of choice, especially with a W8 engine and 4 wheel drive.

I want to see an ad saying 'Beautiful cars with history', not 'Oh, sorry it's a Skoda' in so many forms, please.

Best wishes

Kingsley Flint

:shock:

Whats can I say, I *love* the skoda adverts, I think they sum up the changes very well.

"It's a Skoda, which for some, is still a problem"

gotta agree with ian, i love the ads, particularly the new superb production line one!

on a related note, saw my 2nd superb on the road today. in silver, looked very nice.

I'm with Kingsley on this one - there is a whole lot of quality heritage

regarding Skoda that is overlooked in the adverts. Unfortunately the

majority of people who are being advertised to are unaware of this, so

the adverts need to make the best of a brand with a bad name. And I

think they did a fair job of this...

I do still get annoyed when I say "I drive a Skoda" and people try and

rationalise it by saying "I suppose they're alright now they're owned by

VW"... :evil:

Mind you, watching Clarkson Meets The Neighbours my girlfriend suggests

we drive through Europe to Holland, and I pointed out that, like Clarkson,

we should do it in an E-type Jag...she says:

"No, take the Skoda - it's reliable" :lol:

The times they are a-changing,

Rob.

Kingsley

A well-written case. I'd be interested to hear what the Advertising Agency's response is.

My wife didn't understand the TV ad until I explained it to her. Sometimes advertising can be too subtle for its own good.

Well done Kingsley!!!

I think the 'joke' of the ads has worn thin now , and its time to start emphasizing the history and heritage ( and not forgetting their numourous acheivements in Motorsports!) of Skoda Auto A.S. in their ads. Remember the Skoda plant built the pre production bodies for the new Bentley GT coupe , so VAG must acknowledge their competence somewhere along the line! , and there was also the lovely 'Tudor' Coupe concept which would have made a great car if it was put into production. If you get a response from Fallon , would you post it up in this thread? I would be interested to read what they think....maybe we could influence their next ad campaign???

Just found this on the 'net - don't remember ever seeing anything about

this over here though!

http://www.radio.cz/en/article/11607

Rob.

[offtopic mode on]

Final negotiations are apparently underway in Spain with Sean Connery to star as James Bond in European-wide commercials for the company's new Octavia model. [/quote:e53476c61a]

The [i:e53476c61a]new[/i:e53476c61a] Octavia model? So the mid-2004 launch is a definite go-ahead, along with the new Golf and Seat Leon.

This is what I read somewhere:

Skoda Octavia is in for a facelift. The new-look Octavia, more aerodynamic and technologically-advanced, is slated for launch in early 2004. The design cues will remain the same, though it will be a bigger car. [/quote:e53476c61a]

I bet with more legroom in the back! :lol:

More aerodynamic? Having seen the new A3, they will probably axe the rugged looks I like the Octavia for.

Soon we'll be driving out-of-date cars. And I'm not even driving mine yet! Ah well...

[offtopic mode off]

More aerodynamic? Having seen the new A3, they will probably axe the rugged looks I like the Octavia for.

[/quote:535c8e01cb]

Agree with you here, the Octavia is a good solid-looking car without being

too showy. Hopefully they won't make it look like an Audi! :shock:

Rob.

Hello

Thank you so much for your kind well wishes, and for taking the time to

respond to our work. We are always appreciative of any and all consumer

views. I sent your e-mail off to the appropriate people within the agency.

Once again, thank you for taking time out of your day to let us know what

kind of impression our work has left on you. We welcome further input from

you in the future.

Best wishes

Henni

- This came in from [email protected]

Why not let him know how you feel about these over-apologetic ads?

Rob, Dutch,

// off-topic mode ON

with regards to the new Octavia styling.......

the VAG styling departments now make up two different design groups:

Sports: Audi, Seat, Lambo, Bugatti

Classic: Skoda, VW, Bentley

The "Sports" group is headed up by Walter Desilva ex head of Alfa (and may be why the new Seat and the new A3 look Alfa-ish ).

The "Classic" group headed up by Murat Gunak (sp?) ex exterior design head of Mercedes. That said though he's on gardening leave until April to take up his new position. The guy who designed the Fabia also did the design for the new Bentley GT coupe (I think).

So hopefully we won't get an Audi/Alfa - ish look.

// off-topic mode OFF

Cheers.

Adrian.

<delusions of grandeur>

I've always thought the Octavia looked a bit like a small Bentley!

</delusions of grandeur>

Rob.