Committed to expanding its efforts “to encourage eco-friendly mobility and progressive ideas for responsible action in everyday life,” Volkswagen has expanded the Think Blue promotional campaign it launched last year in Europe to the U.S. Originally conceived as an offshoot to the automaker’s wildly successful “Think Small” marketing efforts in the ’60s — which cleverly touted the inherently democratic nature of the Beetle as an ideal personal transporter — VW plans to use Think Blue to promote the increasingly critical importance of developing efficient and sustainable mobility alternatives for everyone.
The timing for this Americanized variation on the firm’s overall “greener-is-better” theme coincides with news of the automaker’s creative partnership with the Museum of Modern Art in New York City and the opening of its new, ultra-clean assembly facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee — which comes online already in full compliance with the benchmark LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) requirements that set new standards for environmentally-friendly and resource efficient plant structures and production processes.
In making the announcement, Jonathan Browning, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, stated that “Think Blue.’ bears witness to our holistic understanding of sustainability. On the one hand, the new Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga demonstrates just how eco-friendly and resource saving automobile production can be today. And on the other, we are seeking to intensify our dialog with art and society on key issues of the future through our cooperation with MoMA.” With the new MoMA involvement, VW intends to broaden the scope of its Think Blue initiative by helping underwrite educational programs and various exhibits that explore social and cultural issues related to the fundamental environmental theme.
While the first Think Blue-related materials are slated to appear near the MoMA and the Chattanooga plant, VW will follow up with a national rollout for the campaign as it prepares to launch the all-new 2012 Beetle this fall.
