Eyeing up Asia-Pacific's elite

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