Volkswagen Canada is trying to drive interest and purchases of new models with a live, online price drop, “Countdown to a Golf GTI.”
A dedicated website shows the price of a new 2015 Golf GTI dropping by 1 cent every second for up to $1,000 in discounts per day. People click to reserve a discount on the price, and a minute after that, the countdown refreshes and begins again. The discount, which is confirmed and held with a $250 credit-card hold, can be applied towards a 2015 Golf or Golf GTI.
“It’s very much like an auction in reverse,” says Thomas Tetzlaff, manager of media relations for Volkswagen Canada, adding that the site tries to increase anticipation by showing the number of people looking at it at any given time, waiting to get the best deal before other visitors.
Montreal-based Palm + Havas created the website and a video promoting it. PR for the countdown is being done by Edelman.
“When you buy a car, everybody thinks about a deal,” says Tetzlaff. “What better idea, with this car in the pre-launch phase, than to give the people the idea to make a deal?”
The countdown is part of a larger campaign around the launch of the 2015 line, which becomes available in June.
