- For many years, Volvo has had a rather decentralized marketing and brand building structure. Now we are focusing a lot of the development of communication and brand building work to headquarters, says Michael Persson, global market communication director for Volvo.

Volvo will continue to be a premium brand, competing with Audi, Mercedes and BMW but with safety as the base for its position. Further on, Volvo will not be talking about passive safety connected to accidents, rather about safety and activity. A safe car gives you the possibility to drive the car in a cooler way.

The base for the brand is set. Volvo has done the segmentation by themselves and have now asked Brand Management firm LynxEye for help with their brand position. Instead of only targeting the ones who wants a big, safe family car, the main target group is car buyers in their mid thirties that are very interested in cars, functionality and that the brand always presents something new.

- Our cars are not just safe, reasonable and decent. We should tell everyone that they are best in class, with cool design and among the best premium cars in the world. We need to dare to be cockier, says Michael Persson.

Extracted and translated from “Dagens Media nr. 13 2209”