Tour Down Under - Skoda advertising

[K1W1]

It was interesting to watch the Tour Down Under highlights on SBS tonight and see the (lack of) Skoda advertising. Sure they got plenty of mentions through their sponsorship but there was only one actual ad for a Superb.
Compare that with the last two weeks of the Dakar Rally where VW have had at least 3 Tiguan ads on every night during the 30 minute program.

[backdoc]

It was interesting to watch the Tour Down Under highlights on SBS tonight and see the (lack of) Skoda advertising. Sure they got plenty of mentions through their sponsorship but there was only one actual ad for a Superb.
Compare that with the last two weeks of the Dakar Rally where VW have had at least 3 Tiguan ads on every night during the 30 minute program.

I looked over 3 months of newspapers in the Carsguide (Herald Sun) and Drive (The Age) and there were precisely 4 ads for Skoda! Most car manufacturers/dealers had between 1 to 4 ads per edition. Doesn't seem to me that they are serious yet about getting this brand recognised.

"I bought a Skoda. You bought a what?" Seems like this conversation will continue a little longer I suspect.

[TuNeS]

I looked over 3 months of newspapers in the Carsguide (Herald Sun) and Drive (The Age) and there were precisely 4 ads for Skoda! Most car manufacturers/dealers had between 1 to 4 ads per edition. Doesn't seem to me that they are serious yet about getting this brand recognised.

"I bought a Skoda. You bought a what?" Seems like this conversation will continue a little longer I suspect.

I dont really mind. I bought a beautiful car that has exceeded all my expectations. I don't even bother explaining what it is to people when they seem confused. Anyone who knows a little about cars knows what they are, and if they dont, well they arent going to be interested anyway.

[dazag]

Personally i think word of mouth works better then TV advertising, I mean really i switch off mentally when i see a car TV ad, because it's all dribble. You really get no idea of a car from an Ad, and a lot of them a boring to watch anyway.
I see people looking at my RS and stop to have a closer look at it, or if I'm there with the car they ask about it. I'd say on the Tour Down under, simply having the skoda behind the riders in shot, is enough to have people wondering about the brand, and the banners etc you see along the track also.
And I get bored with seeing the same ads when watching a sporting event, so Skoda having the odd one or 2 is fine in my books.

[Inego]

Given that there doesn't seem to be a lot of stock at the moment (in NSW at least), maybe the signage is enough. I noticed Skoda isn't doing newspaper ads at the moment here in Sydney either.

But car companies love SBS - I was watching last night and there were both BMW and Mercedes ads in the same break!

[BlackSuperb]

....."I bought a Skoda. You bought a what?"....

The response is always polarized. People who are in the know ask all the right questions. People who don't have a clue think they are the same cars as they built in the 1970's.

Almost every day I get comments/questions from complete strangers about my Superb.

[Inego]

The salesguy I dealt with commented that nearly everyone walking in their door knew more about the cars than they did. It's a pity that they don't have the volumes (or clearly plans for the volumes) to make profile building more worthwhile (not that I'm thinking of resale or anything

Kent

[BlackOctaviaRS]

There's something nice about driving a car that there aren't a lot of on the road. Much better than a boring Toyota or a Falcodore.

[Antiplastix]

But car companies love SBS - I was watching last night and there were both BMW and Mercedes ads in the same break!

I think most people I know would think I m a wanker driving a BMW or a Mercedes, but when thye ask what a Skoda is and I tell them its a cut price VW, they seem cool with that.

[aslsw]

But I do like seeing all of the Skoda mentions around the track.

I was at the pub watching football but another screen was showing some race around an Adelaide circuit. It was good to see the front-on shot of a Superb leading the bikes off, and heaps of Skoda banners around the track.

Cycling is getting more popular, so I think it is good that a growing group of people will have at least seen the brand and some of the cars.

Almost makes me wish I had squeezed a bit more from the budget and gone for a Superb instead...

[spellbound]

My business is 150 metres from the tour tent , where there are about 40 skodas in residence , its like heaven .

I agree about the dribble in ads , i bought mine based on the blogs i read in the uk , what car etc and the jd power ratings , and in mid 2008 there was not much advertising then either .

By the way have we got the car of the year mag yet , won by golf 6 , but the superb rated 3rd , its a good read .

Cheers

[Jake02]

By the way have we got the car of the year mag yet , won by golf 6 , but the superb rated 3rd , its a good read .
Cheers

I got it in the mail today. Made me kinda angry as to why the Superb didn't win. All they said was the quirky styling and the TwinDoor isn't a good idea to some. That's crap because they don't judge on things that opinions are gonna vary on. But getting to the third round (not being 3rd pace) is good, just not quite good enough. Especially when Ged Bulmer himself said that the COTY represents the biggest leap for a car over a year. I reckon the Superb is that, especially compared to the Mk V.5 Golf (I refuse to call it Mk VI).

They also got rid of their long-term Octavia and left clouds over reliability. I've never heard of such big problems on any Skoda, so I think that
N XR 74J - their exact car - is a Lemon.

[TuNeS]

The golf mk6 winning car of the year is well deserved. my dad has both a fl vrs and a mk6 tdi and there isnt a lot of difference. The new mk 6 golf has a few subtle improvements which no doubt will filter into the next Octavia....however the small improvements are nothing to phone home about.

The octavia is just the unknown sibling of COTY. They share the same DNA

When you compare the VAG cars to mazdas.....etc, they are miles in front!

[woofy]

I got it in the mail today. Made me kinda angry as to why the Superb didn't win. All they said was the quirky styling and the TwinDoor isn't a good idea to some. That's crap because they don't judge on things that opinions are gonna vary on. But getting to the third round (not being 3rd pace) is good, just not quite good enough. Especially when Ged Bulmer himself said that the COTY represents the biggest leap for a car over a year. I reckon the Superb is that, especially compared to the Mk V.5 Golf (I refuse to call it Mk VI).

They also got rid of their long-term Octavia and left clouds over reliability. I've never heard of such big problems on any Skoda, so I think that
N XR 74J - their exact car - is a Lemon.

I read the second last one over Christmas, Skoda stuffed up badly when a reknowned car mag in Oz is giving them a fair go at boosting profile and then they have "issues" with their DSG which Skoda gave them no clue as to what happened. I honestly imagine in my head sometimes that the section of VW Australia where Skoda is has a blow up doll sitting at a desk with a constantly ringing phone.

[gregozedobe]

Going on the number of reports I read on forums like this by owners of VAG cars with DSG "isssues" it isn't that unusual for a DSG to have problems.

It's a pity Skoda didn't give them an Octy with a manual gearbox, we would probably have read much friendlier reviews on their Skoda, as they did seem to like it a lot apart from a dud earth and needing a DSG replacement. It also significantly undermined the Octy's claim to be a reliable euro car.