In the ongoing race for supremacy in the premium car market, Audi has emerged as a major contender. Once seen by luxury market leaders like BMW and Mercedes as a company destined to remain a dust-eating also ran, Audi’s shrewd and aggressive marketing strategies have effectively repositioned the brand from the rearview mirror to the passing lane. Here are 5 of the best reasons why Audi is riding high in the quest for automotive dominance.
1. A bold marketing strategy: In 2007, after 9 years of sustained growth, punctuated by a very successful 2006 in which Audi saw sales and profits that exceeded projections, Rupert Stadler, Chairman of the Board of Management of Audi AG made the following statement: “This puts us well on our way to becoming the most successful premium car manufacturer in the world by 2015.” No doubt this very bold proclamation had a two-fold purpose, the first being to infuse Audi with a new level of enthusiasm about what had been and could yet be achieved, and the second being to send a message to the major players in the premium car market that the status quo was about to change. Over the last 4 years since Stadler announced this aggressive strategy, Audi’s steadily increasing market share suggests that the claim might not have been as outlandish as it seemed.
2. Better brand recognition: Spotted an Audi lately? With sleek European looks and definitive front grills set off by dotted lines of LED’s that hug the lower curves of the headlights, Audi engineers have succeeded in making their cars recognizable, long before the iconic four-ring logo comes into view. The same holds true for Audi’s cutting edge commercials and billboards. And with more and more models being introduced with an emphasis on quality and performance, the Audi brand has begun to cast its own distinctive shadow in a spotlight once shared by BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.
3. Targeting the competition: While increased competition in the premium car market has given rise to new and clever ways for car companies to assert their superiority, Audi’s current approach, as seen on commercials, billboards and print ads has been far from subtle. With the lofty goal of market domination by 2015 looming ahead, Audi has chosen to cut to the chase and take on the competition directly—a strategy that seems to be working. One of the reasons it’s working is that Audi has been perceived as the underdog for so long it has been able to capitalize on the complacency of its competitors. When large corporations have dominated a market for a long time, they tend to let their guard down, creating a window of opportunity which a hungrier and more aggressive company can capitalize upon to gain market share. Seizing the opportunity, Audi went for the jugular with a series of commercials designed to portray BMW and Mercedes as the stodgy producers of the kinds of cars that might appeal to parents or grandparents. The irony of it all is that Audi was once thought of by consumers as the “European Buick.”
4. Leveraging Social Media: When a Los Angeles billboard featuring the image of a new Audi A4 with the caption “Your Move BMW” prompted a retaliatory response from BMW with a billboard baring the picture of an M5 and the word “Checkmate”, Audi seized a golden opportunity to cash in on the ensuing “billboard war” through Social Media. Announcing a contest for Facebook users to submit billboard rebuttals to the Beemer ad, Audi succeeded in creating a viral brand buzz that leveraged the billboard ad into the stratosphere. Audi is continuing to promote greater brand awareness through the clever use of Social Media that encourages interaction.
5. Turning up the cool factor: When it comes to high-end automobiles, after all is said and done in terms of styling and engineering, it’s often that intangible component known as the “cool factor” that determines which cars are driven off the lot. Audi engineers refer to the “cool factor” as the soul of an automobile. While the leading luxury automobile companies have been adept at producing cool factor cars, Audi is getting better and better at finding the right blend of power, performance and passion to potentially propel it to the forefront of the premium car market in the coming years.
2. Better brand recognition: Spotted an Audi lately? With sleek European looks and definitive front grills set off by dotted lines of LED’s that hug the lower curves of the headlights, Audi engineers have succeeded in making their cars recognizable, long before the iconic four-ring logo comes into view. The same holds true for Audi’s cutting edge commercials and billboards. And with more and more models being introduced with an emphasis on quality and performance, the Audi brand has begun to cast its own distinctive shadow in a spotlight once shared by BMW, Mercedes and Lexus.
3. Targeting the competition: While increased competition in the premium car market has given rise to new and clever ways for car companies to assert their superiority, Audi’s current approach, as seen on commercials, billboards and print ads has been far from subtle. With the lofty goal of market domination by 2015 looming ahead, Audi has chosen to cut to the chase and take on the competition directly—a strategy that seems to be working. One of the reasons it’s working is that Audi has been perceived as the underdog for so long it has been able to capitalize on the complacency of its competitors. When large corporations have dominated a market for a long time, they tend to let their guard down, creating a window of opportunity which a hungrier and more aggressive company can capitalize upon to gain market share. Seizing the opportunity, Audi went for the jugular with a series of commercials designed to portray BMW and Mercedes as the stodgy producers of the kinds of cars that might appeal to parents or grandparents. The irony of it all is that Audi was once thought of by consumers as the “European Buick.”
4. Leveraging Social Media: When a Los Angeles billboard featuring the image of a new Audi A4 with the caption “Your Move BMW” prompted a retaliatory response from BMW with a billboard baring the picture of an M5 and the word “Checkmate”, Audi seized a golden opportunity to cash in on the ensuing “billboard war” through Social Media. Announcing a contest for Facebook users to submit billboard rebuttals to the Beemer ad, Audi succeeded in creating a viral brand buzz that leveraged the billboard ad into the stratosphere. Audi is continuing to promote greater brand awareness through the clever use of Social Media that encourages interaction.
5. Turning up the cool factor: When it comes to high-end automobiles, after all is said and done in terms of styling and engineering, it’s often that intangible component known as the “cool factor” that determines which cars are driven off the lot. Audi engineers refer to the “cool factor” as the soul of an automobile. While the leading luxury automobile companies have been adept at producing cool factor cars, Audi is getting better and better at finding the right blend of power, performance and passion to potentially propel it to the forefront of the premium car market in the coming years.
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