Brief:

• Volkswagen began saying goodbye to its Beetle model with a campaign that urges social media users to share their favorite moments with the iconic car that ended production last year. The carmaker enlisted influencers, including talk show host Andy Cohen, to post pictures of the car with the hashtag #TheLastMile, according to details shared with Mobile Marketer.
• The influencer effort is part of Volkswagen's broader "The Last Mile" campaign that featured out-of-home (OOH) digital billboards in New York City's Times Square during New Year's Eve celebrations. The carmaker also released a 90-second animated video with a Pro Musica Youth Chorus cover of The Beatles' "Let it Be." The video has cameos of celebrities such as Andy Warhol, Kevin Bacon and Andy Cohen, who often posts photos of his Beetle, per the announcement.
• Volkswagen worked with ad agency Johannes Leonardo on the video, which appeared on ABC and CNN on New Year's Eve, followed by more placements during the Sugar Bowl and Rose Bowl games on New Year's Day. The video hints at Volkswagen's plans with an ending that shows the car taking flight as a bug, followed by the tagline "Where one road ends, another begins."

Insight:

Volkswagen aims to extend the reach of its "The Last Mile" campaign — which also includes video and OOH elements — with an influencer push that can help to reach younger audiences on their mobile devices as the carmaker sets the stage for its next generation of automobiles.

The influencer component of Volkswagen's campaign is another sign of how the car brand has focused on social media in its mobile marketing efforts. Last year, Volkswagen put 100% of its social media advertising on Facebook, the parent company of Instagram, per a study by brand analytics firm BrandTotal. Facebook and Instagram were the two most popular social platforms for carmakers, ahead of YouTube and Twitter, the study found.

Volkswagen in 2018 announced plans to stop making the Beetle, which was the world's best-selling car and helped to carve out the market for more efficient vehicles. The company last year debuted plans to build zero-emission cars in the U.S. as more vehicle brands began making electric vehicles to appeal to environmentally conscious consumers.