Volkswagen cannot possibly survive the emissions scandal unscathed

The emissions scandal surrounding the battered car manufacturer, Volkswagen, will hit such heights that the brand will be unlikely to survive as it is today, it will have to change.

It’s been about ten days now since the use of a “defeat device” by VW to cheat emissions tests around the work surfaced, in that time we have learnt that over 11m vehicles are affected which in turn have been spewing millions of tonnes of emissions and poisonous gases into the atmosphere.

Their CEO has already gone, and at the moment three other senior executive are under investigation, all their brands have been implemented and it will cost them £billions to sort out.

Not only will they have to recall all of their cars for fixing, but they have fines coming out of their ears and VW owners are clamouring for compensation.

Volkswagen had one of the strongest brands in the auto industry before all this, so what is likely to happen to it?

The brand impact

Volkswagen were a trusted brand, but the admission that they purposely cheated the emission tests to con the car industry and consumers will hurt them badly, VW deliberately set out to break the law.

On a positive note, it looks like consumers still some faith in the brand as retailers in the UK haven’t noticed any major dip in the public looking to purchase the brand, although now we know for a fact that this isn't just a US problem and we have 1.2m of these vehicles in the UK – this may change.

But experts do expect sales to decline considerably.

So can Volkswagen survive?

Volkswagen has promised to spend at least £4.7bn to help “restoring consumer trust” in the brands they control, my gut feeling is that they need considerably more than this.

In a statement the brand said its “top priority” was to avert damage to customers and it will inform the public constantly and transparently on further progress.  They want to win back trust and credibility.

But whilst the Volkswagen brand is unlikely to die as a result, it’s not impossible that it could disappear!

What is more likely is that the country could be restructured and broken up, some of its brands could be sold off.  The global fines could be anywhere between £15bn and £25bn – selling off parts of the business could help the Group to recoup much of that money.

It could turn into a case of not just protecting the brand, but protecting the car business from going under!


Link Building in 2015

Links, the lifeblood of websites, without these your website will not not highly on search engines, if you can't be found on search engines then you'll not get the visitors your business desperately needs.

Link building is fraught with difficulty, recent Google updates mean that if you get links from a poor website, then it will negatively effect your ranking.

But how can you get these all important links?

Two recent posts on LinkedIn help show the way:


These articles offer practical advice to help you improve your search engine rankings.

Good Luck



Web Design tips to make your life incredibly easy

Learn from the best. Leading web design experts reveal the secrets of the trade, these are now yours to learn, follow, implement and win.

Every great web designer has a true secret or two that they use time and time again to provide the best service for their clients, this insider knowledge is vital when you are looking at your own design project.

It's quite a collection. Enjoy

The Optimum Line Length

The Baymard Institute suggest that 50-75 characters per line. This sort of length energises readers and keeps them engaged in your content, and we know that the more engaged readers are, the more likely they are to stay on your page and take the action that you want them to take.


Use Video to show visitors something real

Kendra Gaines at WebdesignerDepot.com rightly argues that visitors are wanting a connection to business and brands, video allows us to do this by showing them something real and of substance. I couldn't agree more.


Use only Appropriate Images

Graham at Effective Website Design makes the sensible point that images need to be carefully selected, and the process itself shouldn't be overlooked or undertaken quickly. “Do not use images indiscriminately, lots of images can lose the page focus.” says Graham, and he's right, there is nothing off putting that images on pages that have no context to the subject matter.


Responsive Design - it's the future

Nick Pettit at treehouse wrote a compelling blog post last year about Responsive Design, and steps readers through the concepts in a very practical manner.


User Flow in Web Design

Adrian Fraguela at Silver talks about thinking about the user experience in web design, one of the more interesting areas they look at briefly is User Flow, that is the need to consider exactly how users will move around your site and ensuring that your design allows them to interact with the site successfully.


That's it for this post.  Do you have a secret to your web design success? Don't be selfish, share it with others in the comments below!

Digital Marketing Predications for 2015!

The life of a busy digital marketer is a varied one, and knowing where to put your marketing effort is an important factor, but where should you plan to put those efforts?

Everything is changing - and will continue to do so - remember that the only constant is change.

Technology, business models and consumer behaviours change in the blink of an eye; old tactics no longer work (or aren't as effective as they once were).

So as a digital marketer, what should you be considering for the year ahead?

In this article on LinkedIn, I've tried to capture some of the key elements that are important to Digital Marketing in 2015 - enjoy.

Digital Marketing: My Crystal Ball Predications for 2015