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SEPTEMBER 2012
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
was by text message. They also gave
fewer rounded numbers to support their
disclosures, indicating that the responses
were less likely to be estimates than they
would be if solicited by voice.
Wait, you
did
WHAT
last weekend? LOL. TMI.
—JACQUELINE DETWILER
MEET THE BEETLE
A new face for an old favorite
Volkswagen has made good progress
in putting strong sellers like the Jetta
and the Passat front and center in
the mind of the American consumer,
displacing the Bug and the Microbus
of yore. And yet efforts to break from
its hippie past are sure to be slightly
complicated by VW’s plan to issue
a new Beetle this year. Certainly,
there seems to be some semantic
footwork involved in the attempts to
reconcile these apparently conflicting
initiatives—words like “modern”
and “technology” are used a lot in
discussions about the new car, while
“nostalgia” and “tradition” are not.
But at its heart, the charming little
Bug is as appealing as ever, says Tony
Cervone, executive vice president of
group communications. “When you
have a strong brand with a powerful
heritage,” he says, “you don’t walk
away from those strengths.”