Audi R8 Campaign
“Luxury Has Progressed.” This simple but powerful message was the punch line of a 60-second action-packed spot “Release the Hounds,” (http://audi.us/ReleaseHounds) which made its debut during Super Bowl XLV. The story of two men attempting an escape from a luxury prison ends with a twist: Bill makes a getaway in an Audi A8 while the hoodwinked Lancaster wins a chauffeured ride back to prison in a Mercedes S Class.
The spot took many pointed jabs at the symbols of old luxury. But it stopped short of fully defining the concept of progressive luxury. For that, Audi decided to turn to our social communities. We wanted to create a conversation on the topic of old versus new that would engage Audi customers, fans and car enthusiasts alike. And, so, we called on the Twittersphere to help us define progress.
SOLUTION:
We developed a comprehensive communications strategy around Twitter and a unique hashtag, #ProgressIs. To achieve the level of integration and visibility necessary for success, we supported the #ProgressIs campaign with earned, bought and owned media.
The Audi Progressive Luxury Trade-Up contest was born: A Twitter contest that tied thematically with the spot and extended its message. Audi supported the #ProgressIs contest with the ground-breaking concept of appending the hashtag to the Super Bowl commercial. And to build buzz before the commercial, Audi purchased the Promoted Trend #ProgressIs on Twitter on the Thursday before Super Bowl.
In the contest, we asked consumers to submit their definitions of what #ProgressIs via a microsite (http://audi.us/ProgressIs), from which people could submit their 140-character entries. During the second phase, in a head-to-head tweet-off, the top 10 contestants were assigned “old luxury” goods and had an opportunity to trade up to “progressive luxury” prizes. They campaigned with Retweets and creatively used Twitpics, blogs and YouTube videos to further spark conversation. The Grand Prize was a $25,000 charitable donation and a trip to the Audi Sportscar Experience at Infineon Raceway.
Audi public relations played an important role in getting the media and consumers talking about Audi’s innovative use of the hashtag in its Super Bowl commercial – a first ever.
RESULTS:
Audi created a highly successful 360-degree campaign around the Super Bowl that leveraged traditional and digital / social advertising to encourage user conversation around its hashtag on Twitter. And it received kudos from media to consumers for being the first Super Bowl advertiser to place a hashtag on a Super Bowl ad to drive conversation.
As a result, Twitter generated the greatest share of pre-game buzz for Audi among its social media channels, and its momentum continued for weeks after the Big Game.
- There were more than 27,000 mentions of #ProgressIs before and after the game.
- During the 24 hours of the Promoted Trend, more than 9,500 people tweeted their definitions of progress.
- The hashtag won more traffic once the ad appeared on television
- The contest’s second phase organically generated more than two times the mentions of #ProgressIs than occurred during the Promoted Trend or the Super Bowl.
- Media lauded Audi for its first use of a hashtag in a Super Bowl ad.
- Mashable: http://mashable.com/2011/02/02/audi-super-bowl-twitter-hashtag/
- Biz Stone discusses Audi’s innovative use of hashtag #ProgressIs on NPR’s Fresh Air: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/16/133775340/twitters-biz-stone-on-starting-a-revolution
Categories: Projects