Innovative Audi ad puts viewers in the driver's seat
From: The AustralianJuly 29, 2013
AUDI Australia has created and shot its first brand campaign in Australia, promoting its "quattro" all-wheel-drive technology as part of a long-term marketing and investment program aimed at making it the top-selling premium car by 2020.
The $3 million "Land of quattro" campaign, which was launched last night, goes to new lengths to get Australians involved with the German marque by inviting people to "remix" and re-edit the TV commercial online.
The resulting user-created versions will be shared on Facebook, and the one Audi judges to be the best will be broadcast on TV at the end of September.
Audi trails its premium car rivals Mercedes-Benz and BMW in Australia, where about 1.1 million cars are expected to be sold in the premium category this year.
Despite the slowing economy, Audi's sales are growing strongly, according to managing director Andrew Doyle.
Sales rose 17.3 per cent to 8152 in the six months from January to June compared with the same period last year, making Australia Audi's 18th biggest market. June was a record month, with 1505 units sold and 1900 orders taken.
"Last year and 2011 -- you could consider them consolidation years for us in Australia," Mr Doyle said.
Globally, in the first six months of this year, Audi's sales were up 6.4 per cent to 780,500 units, trailing BMW (excluding Mini), which was up 7.7 per cent to 804,200, but ahead of Mercedes (up 6.4 per cent to 694,400).
But in Australia, Audi has lost some traction against Mercedes, selling three-quarters as many cars in the six months to June (down from 87 per cent in the full year 2011) thanks partly to its rival's success in the A-segment.
This year Audi has sold 82 per cent as many cars as BMW (down slightly from 83 per cent in 2011).
"We're hot on their heels," Mr Doyle said of his rivals. "We have a plan to catch them. The marketplace is extremely competitive. We're planning to grow share. We see strong opps in the SUV category (and) increased opportunities in the A-segment. Our plan is that by 2020 we'll definitely be No 1 in the marketplace."
Audi will invest $50m in its dealer network in 2013-14 and open five new car dealer franchises.
New products include the launch in October of the RS 6 Avant supercar which will cost $225,000, the most powerful production vehicle in its line-up, and three other RS vehicles. The Q7 SU is already on the market.
For the first time the company has been allowed to shoot its own commercial to promote its "quattro" technology, showcasing Audi in a series of distinctly Australian landscapes, including the red centre, and positioning Australia as the "land of quattro".
The TV commercial, shot by digital agency Holler, used remote-control helicopters to shoot the cars from different angles and distances to provide users with a wealth of different footage to use in their "remixed" versions.
The voiceover and the company's "Vorsprung durch Technik" (Advancement through technology) slogan remain the same, but 85 per cent of the commercial can be changed.
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