Town on island off the coast of Alaska renamed: Kodiak’ became ‘Kodiaq’ for one day
›Start of communications of the new ŠKODA Kodiaq - the town of Kodiak was renamed Kodiaq for one day
›Connected by a name: the new ŠKODA Kodiaq and the Alaskan island of Kodiak
›Roots: the altered spelling evokes the language of the native people
›A thank you to the town: the authorities and residents took part in the campaign and pasted over town signs, cars and advertising boards
›Film crew documented the campaign and interviewed the residents
Mladá Boleslav/Kodiaq, 9 May 2016 – The town of Kodiak, situated on the Alaskan island of the same name, changed its name for the new large ŠKODA SUV: last Friday, the town name of KODIA‘K’ changed to KODIA‘Q’. As part of its global marketing campaign, the Czech car manufacturer delved into the roots of the name and documented the connection between its new ŠKODA Kodiaq SUV, the island off the southern coast of Alaska and the bears who live on it.
A large and powerful SUV with a protective nature, a strong sense of family and a high degree of outdoor expertise – what should the new model from ŠKODA, which debuts in the second half of the year, be called? There has been a lot of speculation – now it is official. The new SUV from the Czech Republic receives a name which is strong like a bear: Kodiaq. In the language of the native people, this is not only the name of their Alaskan island, but also the world’s largest brown bear.
The Kodiak bear population, which numbers approximately 3,500, lives on Kodiak Island off the southern coast of Alaska. From Europe, it takes about ten hours to fly to the state’s largest city, Anchorage, and from there it is another 650 km to the island in the Gulf of Alaska. Kodiak Island is roughly the size of Corsica and the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge, home of the famous bears, covers most of the island. The island is a paradise of outstanding beauty – rugged mountains, narrow fjords, hidden lakes and huge forests shape the landscape. This creates the ideal terrain for an SUV such as the new ŠKODA Kodiaq – here it can proves its qualities, power and suitability for daily use under the harshest of conditions.
ŠKODA has extensively researched life on Kodiak Island and the language of the native people, the Alutiiq. They call the Kodiak bear Taq uka 'aq – the letter ‘q’ at the end is typical for the names of animals. ŠKODA has adopted the letter for the new SUV’s model name, thereby demonstrating its respect for the language of the Alutiiq. At the same time, the ‘q’ creates a very unique and distinctive name.
The Alaskan island’s authorities supported ŠKODA’s extensive marketing campaign. For the ŠKODA Kodiaq communications launch, they generously gave the go-ahead for an unusual event – last Friday, numerous residents changed and pasted over names on street signs, police cars, fire engines, fishing boats and advertising boards. Even on the town’s official homepage, the ‘k’ changed to a ‘q’ to celebrate this unusual name day. A ŠKODA film crew has documented the renaming and recorded the humour and enthusiasm of the town’s population who took part – from the mayor and the sheriff to the lumberjack.
