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Can't walk over the water either, but float over it in the hydrofoil:
Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Diess (62)
Photo: @Herbert_Diess / Twitter
You have to give the social media people around Volkswagen CEO
Herbert Diess
(62) one thing: The team, which according to reports consists of three employees, knows how to put the head of Germany's most important car manufacturer in the limelight. Whether he sits behind the wheel next to Elon Musk, as he did a few months ago in a LinkedIn video, smiles and test drives the company's new models, or goes on a holiday tour to Italy in ID.3 with his daughter: Diess' videos do not show him at 62 more of a very young CEO as a cool, approachable manager who also enjoys his job.
Now Diess is going one step further: only today, Europe's largest automaker announced excellent figures for the first half of the year, the factory holidays have long since begun - and Diess wants to keep the VW troops happy with sporty greetings. At least that's what his latest Twitter video suggests, in which the boss can be seen racing in a wetsuit - on an electric hydrofoil that the VW subsidiary Audi has developed and which, according to Diess, will soon be on the market.
Audi's "Elektro-Foil" is an electrically powered water sports device that is similar to a surfboard, but uses a so-called stabilizer below the surface of the water to drive it. The visually stunning effect: Herbert Diess doesn't have to jump over waves on his electrofoil - he literally floats over them. Diess uses the sports equipment to plow through the Mittelland Canal next to VW's parent plant in Wolfsburg. He actually succeeds in thanking his employees for an "outstanding first half of the year" and wishing them a pleasant (rest of) vacation. Compared to corporate executives like Marc Branson or Jeff Bezos, who set off into space in an astronaut suit, Diess is content with a wetsuit and makes it a few sizes smaller. This also pays into the account in the form of "casual"and "down to earth".
What lessons Volkswagen learned from Zuckerberg's wakeboard stunt
The PR and sports stunt should ensure a high number of clicks and also the Storymachine agency of former Bild editor-in-chief Kai Diekmann, who advises the VW boss on his social media activities.
Before Diess, other corporate executives had the idea of using such sports equipment: Facebook boss
Mark Zuckerberg
(37) also floated across the water in a video for the US national holiday on July 4th - on a wakeboard with the US flag in his hand , underlaid with pathetic music.
However, Zuckerberg received heavy criticism for this.
The waving flag reminded commentators of oligarchs who don't pay taxes but like to keep their flags in the wind - or something like that.
So it's good that Diess left out the VW flag and background music - and the group's logo can only be seen briefly in the background.