Case Study 2: Audi Q7

Target audience Predominantly male, married, 35 to 45 years of age, with a luxury-oriented lifestyle
Agencies OgilvyOne Beijing, Lowe China

THE MARKETPLACE
Audi has a long and successful history in China, with the A6 being the flagship luxury sedan with a 60 per cent market share in the premium car segment. A wonderful success story, but also a challenge, as the Audi brand is largely seen as conservative and corporate. The Q7 being a niche product attracting a very specific demographic, the campaign was intentionally unconventional and leveraged an array of digital media and content choices. The Q7 was pre-launched in China seven months before it hit the global market.

THE CAMPAIGN
In February 2006, a teaser campaign chronicling adventure stories with the themes of design, luxury, prestige and performance was rolled out. During this phase, the strategy was to subtly introduce the brand essence and key characteristics of the Q7. The core creative idea was expressed in the tagline, 'Create your own adventure'.

The approach was to first interview who represented each characteristic, to discuss their own definition, experience and prospective of adventure. Their interviews were chronicled as loose inserts in magazines and the Q7 website.

A contest invited individuals to submit their own adventures. Thirty winners were selected and their submissions published on the Q7 website. All selected entries were published in a limited-edition book.

The campaign was advertised in print media, online as well as eDM sent to registered audi.com.cn users, with the centerpiece of the campaign being the Q7 website. The teaser campaign ran until the Q7 hit the market in July, and the launch campaign broke. The campaign became more functional with a user-friendly interactive platform for prospects to learn about the Q7's features and functions, and eventually register for test drives and dealer follow up.

THE RESULTS
Overall, the campaign effectively helped Audi to add 'edge' to its brand and drive potential customers to the dealers. The campaign drove over 250,000 unique visitors to the Audi Q7 site, and drove 1,500 qualified leads.