Volvo global online marketing platform goes live

Volvo Cars HQ, based in Gothenburg, Sweden and part of FMC's luxury car division the Premier Automotive Group has rolled out a new global marketing asset management platform.

It will bring about a quiet revolution in the way Volvo manages and controls its global marketing activity.

Created to totally revamp the way Volvo interacts and communicates online with its global business marketplace, stakeholders and advertising promotion agencies the new site (an extranet) has been built by Warwick-based Freestyle New Media using Microsoft.Net technology.

As well as streamlining communication across the marketing operation, the new extranet delivers the capability for greater cost efficiencies removing needless duplication and repetitive processes, for example.

The central idea behind the extranet is the creation of a web-based Global Asset Management system - a one-stop centralised zone that houses and protects all of Volvo Car Corporation's hugely valuable marketing assets and information including imagery, documentation and a range of other business knowledge and intelligence.

Robert Jagler, Marketing Development Manager, Global Marketing, Volvo Cars, who selected Freestyle, said that the investment in the extranet is an important one because it introduces new levels of operational and administrative efficiency: "A highly functional online management tool, the new system is a much smarter way to work.

"It integrates into our existing systems and will quietly revolutionise the way Volvo works and interacts with its many and varied business partners and stakeholders, including advertising and sales promotions agencies, for example.

He added: "The global sales and marketing activity behind a successful premium auto brand is highly complex.

"We work across 10 regions globally and are supported by a variety of global marketing teams, their agencies and National Sales Companies.

"The communications flow between all these parties is very heavy, particularly during a car launch phase, for instance.

"There is a constant need to share and collaborate on centrally produced marketing assets such as promotional materials, films and imagery - it's this management of Volvo knowledge that is vital in achieving operational efficiencies in a global marketplace.

"Further, it is of utmost importance to the markets and partners to have a transparency of the asset developmental process in order to exactly know what asset will be available when; that's why we have a high focus of aligning and optimising our processes.

"We have a constant strive to "get more value for the buck" of our marketing investments and our new PAG-based asset management system is integral to assist us in making it happen.

"We can ensure full optimisation of centrally produced marketing assets and we minimise duplication of time, money and effort.

"We can also increase accountability because the new system has strong metric features and importantly Volvo can ensure that all parts of the organisation foster best practice through improved knowledge share".

Volvo project manager, Helene Axelsson, added: "The new VCC Partners website strongly supports and increases global sharing of our assets across the Volvo Cars organisation.

"It's a very exciting project and I've really enjoyed working with the Freestyle team - they are very professional, really know their stuff and are great fun to work with".

The extranet has been designed and built by Warwick-based digital marketing and communications agency Freestyle New Media and followed a three-way pitch.

Freestyle's account director Andy Wood said: "The Volvo work was a wonderful project win and the two teams are working together really well.

"As an agency we have a strong understanding of the complexities and nature of international sales and marketing operations especially one supporting a global brand like Volvo.

"It's this insight that gave us the edge and one of the reasons Volvo selected us.

"There are very few digital agencies that have our level of automotive experience and digital know-how and are capable of fulfilling a project of this size and strategic importance".

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