MetaDesign to drive Skoda bid

Czech car maker Skoda Auto has confirmed the involvement of MetaDesign London in a project to redefine its brand identity.

The move coincides with a bid to improve its product range, expected to take up to three years. The new Felicia and Octavia models are part of that bid.

MetaDesign has been working with Skoda Auto for two months, working with the car company’s in-house multimedia team. The project is led by consultancy creative director Tim Fendley and Brian Switzer, who joined from sister consultancy MetaDesign Berlin in April. Switzer previously worked on realigning the identity of Audi, owned by VW, which has a 70 per cent stake in Skoda.

“Skoda will be very differently perceived than it is now,” says Fendley, adding that Europe is its primary market. “There is wonderful potential to create a brand with powerful influence on both the eastern and western European car markets.” It currently has a “tiny” share of the European market, he says.

Design writer and business consultant William Owen has joined MetaDesign London in the new post of head of research.

Owen’s prime task is to develop the business consultancy side of MetaDesign’s work and handle the research side of identity projects. But he is also working with the marketing team at MetaDesign Berlin to create a business and marketing strategy for the global group.

Owen has been a consultant to MetaDesign since November 1997. He was previously senior vice-president of HSBC Investment Bank in New York.

See News Analysis, page 8

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