Audi's brief to Ammirati Puris Lintas Singapore was for a regional
campaign that made its ads stand out as unique in the luxury vehicle
category.
In order to accomplish this, the agency had to throw away the rule book
and formulate a strategy that was different from the norm.
It had no choice because there were heavyweight competitors such as
Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Jaguar and Volvo and, additionally, the campaign
was launched at a time when the Asia-Pacific economy was experiencing
its worst downturn in decades.
The result were ads showing an eye staring at an Audi A4 to communicate
desire and a simulated crumpled environment in a flat space to
communicate the feeling of smoothness and peace.
The ads were placed in consecutive pages of regional publications and
the result was that Audi importers received twice their normal number of
sales enquiries. Plus, the A4 was Audi's best-selling car during the
campaign period.
In addition, Audi moved from eighth place in terms of desirability in
1995 to third position in 1999, according to findings by ACNielsen.
The campaign was a success because Ammirati Puris Lintas challenged what
was conventional in luxury car advertising. The regional media strategy
aimed to create a clear brand position which would pave the way for more
tactical local work.
The marketing objectives tied in with the media strategy centred on
being unpredictable in order to get the attention of Audi's target
audience; Asia-Pacific's business elite.
* This ongoing National Geographic Showcase series features selected
material from winners and other entries in the Best Use of Media
category in MEDIA's Agency of the Year Awards 1999.
