Visit Sweden this Summer with Overseas Delivery by Volvo
On July 13, 2010, Volvo presented a display of our first three-point seat belt to the Smithsonian Museum. About five years earlier, in one of our department meetings, Soren (former VP of Public Affairs), said in his typical straight line humor, “what if we could get a Volvo into the Smithsonian?” We all kind of looked either down at whatever we brought into this meeting or starred out into the parking lot. Two things to know about Soren: he’s a great thinker and us minions have to do the work. Now don’t get me wrong, Soren’s ideas were always fun to work on, but most times we all had full work loads already. He thought up “hey lets take XC’s to Alaska and drive from Anchorage to Prudhoe Bay, in mid-Winter, or Baja Mexico in mid-Summer.” In all fairness to Soren he did get his hands dirty during both events.
So when Soren said Smithsonian, we talked about the Safety Concept Car (C30 future design) – it made perfect sense to us, but the Smithsonian wouldn’t bite. Then we talked about the three-point seat belt. “Interesting” they replied. So over the course of three years, their selection committee met and decided we were in. Pictured at left is Roger White, Smithsonian Collections Curator and Tassos Panas, VP Marketing and Product Planning here in Rockleigh, NJ.
Fast forward to a couple days ago. We, in PR, subscribe to services that send us media alerts when something is written about Volvo. It doesn’t catch everything, but it does help us see what media is saying about our brand. One media clip came in from “The Constant Traveler” about our European Delivery program. I clicked on it and found it came via Smithsonian.com. It’s not a piece about all the bells and whistles in our cars or safety stuff, it’s about a program that might be one of our best kept secrets. And it is from the Smithsonian…that’s cool.
It’s a short read, nicely outlining what our program offers buyers/travelers. Sweden is so beautiful this time of year.
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/travel/2012/05/take-a-vacation-on-volvo/
Soooo, now that you’re ready to visit one of our retailers, pick up a Swede deal on a Volvo, fly to Sweden, take delivery at our factory, how about this offer: Discover Volvo’s Overseas Delivery Program and Enter to Win the Road Trip of a Lifetime at http://www.carplusvacation.com/. The sweepstakes, open through August 15, offers two lucky people the chance to win a road trip of a lifetime and the opportunity to drive a Volvo through West Sweden and South Sweden (Skåne). The one week trip for two is complete with accommodations, meals, activities, flights provided by SAS Scandinavian Airlines and a Volvo to use during your adventure.
I can taste the pickled herring and shrimp washed down with great brew from Gothenburg. Nice Swede Summer to you all.
dan
