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Thinking Small: A New Book

How does something enter the annals of popular culture? What qualifies as popular culture? It is kind of like - if you say you are cool - you are not. Other people have to recognize the qualities that make you cool for such a label to be authentic and credible. Author Andrea Hiott has chosen a subject that is undeniably part of global pop culture...the Volkswagen Beetle. In her book, Thinking Small: The Long, Strange Trip of the Volkswagen Beetle, she puts us in the passenger seat for an entertaining and educational ride. The vehicle's creation and its rich history truly make for a fascinating read. The book's first half takes us sequentially from vision to creation to near doom to resurrection.


Thinking small.jpg

Then the story really takes hold when the Beetle attempts to penetrate the American market. This was the time of big, big cars with huge tail fins. America was experiencing incredible prosperity, celebrating its superpower position, and enjoying a period of relative peace. Bigger was not just assumed to be better...it was. Enter the Beetle. It was viewed as ugly, noisy, underpowered, and uncomfortable. And, worst of all, it was small. Not to mention the fact that fourteen years earlier, many Americans were fighting their way across Germany, so few held any positive associations with 'The People's Car'. In fact, in one episode of Mad Men, an attendee at a party at Don Draper's home states, "the last time I saw one of them, I think I threw a hand grenade in it."


VW Beetle.jpg


Those constraints and opposition to the product did not make for the best conditions. And that was precisely what Doyle Dane Bernbach were up against when Volkswagen commissioned them to do the advertising for the Beetle. But great challenges often yield great results and that certainly was the case for the creativity that followed. Voted the Number One campaign of the 20th Century by Advertising Age, the now iconic "Lemon" and "Think Small" ads addressed all objections to the car directly in a self-deprecating way that continues to resonate in Volkswagen communications. Arguably, those ads have their own place in popular culture right beside the diminutive vehicle.

Born in Germany, adopted in America but truly global in popular culture, the story of the Volkswagen Beetle is one of innovation and creativity - two incredibly powerful forces in business.


Read the Bloomberg BusinessWeek review of the book: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/book-review-thinking-small-by-andrea-hiott-01052012.html

Order a copy of the book from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Thinking-Small-Strange-Volkswagen-Beetle/dp/0345521420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1326125303&sr=8-1

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Jeff SwystunChief Communications OfficerDDB Worldwide

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