Insight
Aren’t all 4-wheel-drive technologies the same? No, Audi’s Quattro is better. But, unsurprisingly, the target wasn’t massively interested in techie details. The brand appealed to their emotions instead, linking Quattro with everyone’s love of their own country – a universal theme so successful it now drives Quattro’s messaging in 28 countries.
Selling the functional benefit of Audi’s Quattro technology was challenging. Mediacom’s research revealed a new emotional hook.
Audi is in constant competition with BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Its biggest asset in that battle is its iconic four-wheel drive technology: Quattro.
However, while Quattro engineering is superior, consumers weren’t sure what made it better than BMW’s xDrive and Mercedes-Benz’s 4matic. They thought all four-wheel-drive cars had the same functional benefit: a more secure, more controllable driving experience.
Mediacom needed to demonstrate Quattro’s superior technology to a target that valued performance, wanted challenges and set themselves ambitious goals. Research identified a key change in attitudes: while globalisation and digital are making the world increasingly connected, people actually value regional and local connections more.
The targets were rediscovering their local roots – like their love of local food and culture, and travelling closer to home. They were shifting focus from the world to their homes – and rediscovering a deep emotional bond. This insight drove the idea: Let Quattro take them into the country they wanted to discover next – their own. In four key markets, Germany, Italy, Russia and China, Audi would show consumers the vast landscapes, snowy mountains, and curvy seaside roads… of home.
Strategy
The global message would show them: Your country is perfect, and Audi Quattro is the perfect car to help you discover more about it. No matter where you go, no matter who you talk to, everyone has strong emotional feelings about their home country.
Our home makes us proud. We all have something we love about them. And even the things that –at first glance, at least – might not look like very likable (the unpredictable British climate, for example) define what’s home to us – and contribute to a warm feeling of pride.
Audi wouldn’t simply show people some nice cars on some challenging roads in the countryside, it would look appeal to people’s sense of pride with a three-part content strategy:
• It would send Audi Quattro models on tour to collect and document journeys in images and video: the people they met, the roads they braved, and the experiences they had.
• It would show the targets roads that would take them to special places. Places that'd let them discover the true beauty of a country. Not just any country, but the perfect country: THEIR country.
• And while doing so, the brand told them a very simple message: Your country is perfect. And Audi Quattro is the perfect car to discover it.
Content would sit on a special microsite, and shared on Audi social channels. This content would be equally powerful in Russia, Italy, Germany and China, and in every single country in the world: your country is the ... Land of Quattro.
Mediacom would transform a campaign for a technical product into a declaration of love to Audi’s audience’s country. Over the course of the global campaign, every country would get its very own declaration of love.
Execution
Audi brought each country’s innate beauty to life – celebrating it as the land of Quattro. It made its content available to the public through an online microsite and via social media outlets, using an integrated and interactive approach to bring each country’s beauty to life. Building on this material, the brand created TV and cinema commercials, which took the target audience on a proud journey across their beloved country.
Mediacom captured scenes of each country’s natural beauty, provoking proud emotional responses. Accompanied by atmospheric soundtracks from native composers, it showed different Audi Quattro models braving challenging roads and conditions connected with these emotional destinations.
The agency took the love story into out-of-home and print. Stylised maps showcased each country’s most beautiful and exciting all-wheel-drive routes, honouring it as a true Land of Quattro. Audi let its target share their favourite destinations for Quattro driving on the microsite and with their friends through social media.
And Mediacom took it one step further, organising challenging and exciting driving experiences where the target could rediscover their love for their country. Land of Quattro also made its way to Audi’s owned media channels in every chosen country driving conversation on; social media channels to an immersive, interactive microsite built around the stories of the country’s people.
It also integrated Audi Quattro’s long-term partnership with the international federation of skiing (FIS) into the campaign. And as a national partner of the Olympic Games 2014, Audi Russia was able to leverage interest in Sochi as well.
Results
In all four markets, independent tracking showed awareness increased significantly, leaving the competitors BMW and Mercedes-Benz behind. During the campaign, worldwide Quattro sales rose by 11.6% year on year.
Across selected markets, share of sales in the premium market grew impressively, making Audi the number one premium brand in terms of share of sales in Germany, Italy, China and Russia.
• In Germany, the agency exceeded its target to boost the installation rate of Quattro by almost 67% and boosted Audi’s share of sales of the premium market by 31%.
• In Russia, it exceeded its target to boost the installation rate of Quattro by 100% and Audi’s share of sales of the premium market increased by 11%.
• In Italy, Audi became the number one premium brand in terms of awareness, up 47% to 77% as installations increased by 100%.
• In China, installation rate of Quattro increased by 29%, 93% ahead of target as Audi’s share of sales increased by 13% compared to prior the campaign, securing the number one position in terms of share of sales.
The campaign has now been adapted for 28 markets.