- Steve Miller

Introducing anything less than a fuel-sipping sedan today requires a lot of explaining from an automaker. But Volkswagen, with its new Tiguan crossover, isn't daunted by the idea.

Positioned as a fun vehicle that takes its target demo—young, active owners—to whatever far-flung place they wish to go in the great outdoors, one might say the Tiguan is ripe for, er, an explicit "outdoor" campaign. Which is why Tigaun ads are popping up at bike racks and trail heads in the middle of nowhere, like Keystone Mountain Resort in Colorado.

The ads take their cue from the brand's current "It's What The People Want" campaign, via Crispin Porter + Bugusky, Miami, which launched earlier this year. In one ad, a bike is depicted as perched on top of a Tiguan with the message, "The people want an SUV that parks well with others."

Brand Connections Active Outdoor, New York, handles placement for the OOH ads at 150 resorts and national parks. VW is based in Englewood Cliffs, N.J. The automaker spent $184 million on ads last year, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus.

"In advertising through traditional avenues, a consumer is 60 seconds away, a click away or a page away from another ad for the same product," said Brian Martin, Brand Connections' CEO. "Out there, they have complete category exclusivity."

Martin said the Tiguan will receive an estimated 30 million impressions via the ad campaign, which runs through the summer, which is about the number of hikers, bikers and other outdoors-lovers who will go through the parks.

"This is the way to address active consumers, when they are actually in the act of being active," he added. "It's a new connection."