Workers are lowering the latest Skoda model onto a display stand at an auto show. A manager rushes over to tell them "that car does not go on that stand." The car is too stylish to be a Skoda. In fact, it is the new Skoda.
Filosofia
The repositioning that accompanied the launch of the Fabia in March 2000 challenged that prejudice head-on and reduced marque rejection from 60% to 42%. UK sales have since grown by 64% dramatically outstripping other markets, with the same model mix; £15 million of marketing spend is estimated to have returned £37 million of profits.
Problema
Skoda jokes were so entrenched in British culture that, despite the brands acquisition by VW in 1991, radical product improvements had continued to fall on deaf ears.