In the UK, Audi have launched an interesting advert for the new A8. It starts off with historic footage of the Audi record attempts on the Autobahn's in the 1930s, footage from Avus with the Auto Union's, their Audi Coupe 4x4 rally cars and the Le Mans Audi R8's, before cutting to the new A8. It's won of the few times that I've seen a manufacturer really draw upon their heritage to sell a car. See it if you can. I couldn't find the advert on-line on the Audi website at all, but perhaps e-mail pressure could get it put there.
What does anyone else think of the ad?
UK Audi TV advert
Started by
Darren Galpin
, Apr 23 2003 07:31
21 replies to this topic
Advertisement
#2
RacingCrusaderUK
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Posted 23 April 2003 - 07:53
I like it, it's very evocative in my opinion.
My mother, bless her, drives an A4 and was prompted to say "I didn't know they built racing cars."
Me and dad nearly bloody well hit the roof. I just wish Alfa would do a similar advert, their history is marvellous and they seem to put all their time into pushing this feature or that feature.
My mother, bless her, drives an A4 and was prompted to say "I didn't know they built racing cars."
Me and dad nearly bloody well hit the roof. I just wish Alfa would do a similar advert, their history is marvellous and they seem to put all their time into pushing this feature or that feature.
#3
Holger Merten
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Posted 23 April 2003 - 08:01
Darren, I’ve seen that spot and many ads in German TV/magazines, there it starts in the early 20s with Horch. And it also has some motorsport references to NSU from the 50s. I’ve read a long article about the “making of” and costs (about 20 Mio Euro). For example, they had only 3 hours to film the pit-stop situation of the Auto Union Typ C on a Spanish highway, while the car was on the way to an exhibition, but was not available on another date last year.
I like this spot, cause it’s the really first time, Audi refers to their history. (Without the presentation of the Audi V8 in the late 80s and the Audi Coupé in 1988, when they compared the new Coupé with the Audi 100 Coupé S from 1973.
Have a look here. It’s the A8 special from audi.de where you can find some other interesting things around the history of Audi and the new A8. Click on “Unterhaltung” (Entertainment), and find your favourite “screensaver” “wallpaper” etc..
I like this spot, cause it’s the really first time, Audi refers to their history. (Without the presentation of the Audi V8 in the late 80s and the Audi Coupé in 1988, when they compared the new Coupé with the Audi 100 Coupé S from 1973.
Have a look here. It’s the A8 special from audi.de where you can find some other interesting things around the history of Audi and the new A8. Click on “Unterhaltung” (Entertainment), and find your favourite “screensaver” “wallpaper” etc..
#4
isynge
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Posted 23 April 2003 - 12:01
Originally posted by Darren Galpin
In the UK, Audi have launched an interesting advert for the new A8. It starts off with historic footage of the Audi record attempts on the Autobahn's in the 1930s, footage from Avus with the Auto Union's, their Audi Coupe 4x4 rally cars and the Le Mans Audi R8's, before cutting to the new A8. It's won of the few times that I've seen a manufacturer really draw upon their heritage to sell a car. See it if you can. I couldn't find the advert on-line on the Audi website at all, but perhaps e-mail pressure could get it put there.
What does anyone else think of the ad?
I remember really enjoying a Peugeot ad from the early 90s showing the 905 WSC car with the strapline "Actually, the car in front is a Peugeot" then listing some results. Quite a nice jibe at Toyota, who were on the receiving end of a bit of a kicking that year.
Ad only ran a couple of times in the press and then never seen again.
Shame.
#5
WDH74
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Posted 23 April 2003 - 22:52
Audi ran a similar TV spot here in the States a few years back. I forget which model (probably the A8) drove sedately through an empty metropolis, and all of the reflections of the car in the shop windows were of old racing and sporting cars. I believe they used actual old footage for the classics, except for the AVUS show car that appeared at one point. Auto Union racer, Horch, and a few others I can't recall at the moment. Not a bad piece of film, by any means, but it did not make me especially desirous of an Audi.
-William
-William
#6
Holger Merten
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Posted 02 May 2003 - 13:13
I'd like to add the Audi press release about the "making of" of the Audi spot:
Ingolstadt, November 2002
Progress through advertising: for the new A8, Audi realised one of the most elaborate campaigns in company history.
* Two-stage print and TV campaign for the new Audi flagship underway worldwide
* To start with the brand is presented through its 103-year history, then the focus will be on the product
* Hollywood standards for the historical TV commercial: digital Bluescreen technology combined with hand-crank cameras
It took almost a year to produce. Weeks and weeks of preparatory research in the Audi Tradition company archives were necessary. Around 600 people – Audi employees, creative experts from advertising agencies and production companies, photographers, a symphony orchestra, composers, directors and actors – were involved. The final edited version – put together from 30,000 metres of film material, digital computer animations of the kind that are usually only made for Hollywood blockbusters, elaborate photo shootings and retouching for advertising motifs – can now be seen in national print media and on television: the worldwide advertising campaign for the new Audi A8. “It is one of the most elaborate projects of this kind in the history of AUDI AG and it fits in perfectly with the company tradition of innovative advertising campaigns,” explains Hans-Christian Schwingen, Head of Marketing Communication at Audi.
For the first time the car manufacturer has opted for a two-stage launch campaign for presenting its flagship to the general public. To start with, in the ‘pre-launch phase’, the brand is presented emotionally through its history – the focus is on the progressive and sporty character of Audi. “The new Audi A8 is the latest evolutionary stage in the company’s 103-year history. We want to present this past, which is rich in innovations and emotions, and show that our slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ has always applied,” continues Schwingen.
The advertising focus in the pre-launch phase is therefore 80 percent on the brand’s history and innovative prowess and 20 percent on the new product. Schwingen: “The car is too important for the company for it to simply just present in on the day it is launched. When the new A8 is launched in the middle of November (launch phase) we will then turn the focus around 80:20 in favour of the product.” The Spanish advertising agency Tandem DDB S.A. in Barcelona is responsible for both the concept and realisation.
A highlight in the pre-launch campaign is the TV commercial “Today”. This was also made in Spain and was produced by Alamo Films in Madrid. This film packs the company’s history, which dates back over 100 years, into 45 seconds. This has been achieved using the kind of state-of-the-art film technology otherwise reserved for Hollywood blockbusters. The film combines historical archive footage with newly filmed scenes. One and the same presenter slips into a total of nine different roles and, starting in 1899, travels through five different epochs of the Audi brand until the new Audi A8 rolls into the picture at the end of the commercial, as the latest stage in the company’s development so to speak. A total of 20,000 metres of old and 10,000 metres of new film material were selected and edited for the commercial.
One of the main challenges faced was to integrate the presenter making the journey through history into the original material in such a way that this is not obvious to the viewer – and to film new scenes so that they look like historical footage. As Gerhard Kiefer, responsible within Marketing Communication for film and photo productions at Audi, explains: “We did this using digital Bluescreen technology. This technique was first perfected in the film ‘Forrest Gump’ staring Tom Hanks in the leading role.” Bluescreen digitisation makes such scenes look deceptively authentic. In the case of the Audi commercial, the main actor was filmed in his various roles in front of a blue wall and edited into the original material subsequently.
Audi also had to reach deep into the box of tricks for one of the different final scenes (not shown in Germany) and for the photo motifs for the printed advertising campaign in which the new A8 drives around the banked corner of the Avus Ring racing circuit in Berlin. The problem is that this time-honoured motor racing venue no longer exists. Yet the pictures look unbelievably realistic. Special computer software makes it possible to reconstruct three-dimensional shots. This technique was used in breathtaking fashion in the cinema epic “Titanic”, for example.
To make it look like the Audi A8 is racing around the banked corner of the Avus circuit, the complete CAD vehicle data for the A8 from Technical Development in Ingolstadt were first entered into the 3D program. In this way a computer animation of the vehicle was produced. The crew then reconstructed a 500 m2 section of the banked curve from bricks on a horse farm in the Eifel region of Germany and photographed the new A8 on it. These pictures were also digitised and entered into the 3D program. With the aid of the old design data for the racing circuit, the computer then calculated the exact course of the banked curve and projected the A8 onto it as if races still took place there today.
All in all it took 340 hours of work at the computer to stage the 45 seconds so perfectly. An interesting contrast to computer technology: parts of the commercial were filmed using two 80 year-old hand-crank cameras to make the subsequently filmed historical scenes appear as authentic as possible.
Kiefer gives another example of the tremendous work that went into making the commercial: “For the subsequently filmed sequence of a historical Grand Prix race, for example, we reconstructed a complete pit setting. The actors’ costumes were also based on originals.”
The film was shot at six different locations: in Ingolstadt and Munich, at the studio in Madrid and at other locations in Spain. The film-makers covered a total of around 5000 kilometres between the various locations until everything was “in the can”. Up to 100 women and men worked on the set, a total of around 600 people were involved in realising the campaign and 500 different minor roles had to be acted out. The principal actor was chosen from 500 applicants. The American actor Donald Kimmel was chosen to play the part of the Audi expert who travels through time. His German voice is provided by Frank Glaubrecht who also dubs the voices of Pierce Brosnan, Al Pacino and Kevin Costner among others.
The highest standards were also applied for the music in the commercial film. As Katrin Schöneberg, Project Manager for the A8 campaign, explains: “The Bratislava Symphony Orchestra provided the background music to the film, a piece by the composer Zivot. The 50 musicians watched the film during recording so that they were able to play every note in time with the pictures.”
In the area of print media, the A8 advertising campaign was launched at the end of September with a 20-page image supplement in the weekend editions of national daily newspapers with a total circulation of around 1.7 million – this too was a unique measure for the launch of a new model. The supplement contained all advertising motifs used for the print campaign which is currently appearing worldwide. These include photos of the luxurious interior of a Horch 8, Type 375, Pullman Saloon from 1929, the Auto Union Type C Grand Prix racing car from 1936, the Auto Union Streamliner from 1937, the Audi Ur-quattro from 1980 and the Audi R8 which won the Le Mans 24 Hours three years in succession.
The second part of the campaign for the launch of the new Audi A8, in which the focus is on the product, is due to start in the middle of November. This will comprise new advertising motifs and a new TV commercial. The advertising film “Father and Son” emphasises the sporting character of the new flagship and shows that a luxury saloon is tremendous fun not only for the father, but also obviously for his young son.
Another special feature of the A8 campaign is that it will be appearing in this form worldwide. Katrin Schöneberg: “We assume that commercials and advertising motifs will appear in up to 70 countries.” This is also a step towards more global branding and image building. Nonetheless, importers will be able to have the historical TV commercial modified to suit their individual needs.
The sequences can be edited in a different order and there are various film lengths and final sequences. And for the Chinese market, one scene was even re-filmed with a Chinese actor.
This principle of modular advertising is cost-effective and the production of several campaigns for different markets was unnecessary. This helps to save additional costs.
Networked creativity – AudiAgencyNetwork
In 1995 Audi set up its own agency pool: AudiAgencyNetwork (AAN). The objective behind this was and is to create a uniform Audi brand image in all markets. All AAN agencies submit their proposals for a new campaign from which Audi can choose. The advantage of this is that each agency is familiar with the Audi brand values and can therefore devise a concept which is based on these. This creative network is made up of an advertising agency in each of the five largest European Audi markets: Saatchi&Saatchi of Frankfurt (Germany), Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty BBH of London (England), Louis XIV DDB of Paris (France), Tandem DDB of Barcelona (Spain) and Verba DDB of Milan (Italy). In the case of the campaign for the new Audi A8, the American agency McKinney&Silver of Raleigh/North Carolina was also involved in the campaign briefing as Audi is expecting considering potential for the new A8 on the US market as well.
Award-winning Audi advertisements
Audi is well-known for its innovative advertising. In the past numerous Audi commercials have caused a sensation both among customers and in the creative industry. Here are some examples from the recent past:
An ad and its somewhat unconventional star made headlines in 2001. The commercial film “The Fan” communicated the advantages of the continuously variable automatic transmission Audi multitronic through an intelligently humorous story. The pelvis-gyrating rock ‘n’ roll doll on the dashboard, an elementary part of the commercial, achieved cult status in Germany and went into mass production due to the huge interested it generated. Over 500,000 Elvis dolls were sold. “The Fan” also picked up a number of awards including the “Silver Lion” at the advertising festival in Cannes, “The Clapperboard 2001”, the “Ottocar in Silver” from the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA), the “German Comedy Prize” from the TV channel RTL and the “Clients Award 2001” for the cinema and TV ad of the year.
The film “Wakeboarder” for Audi quattro four-wheel drive also received a “Silver Lion” at Cannes in the year 2000. Here a man is seen riding the waves on his board – he is not towed by a motorboat however, but by an Audi A6 with quattro drive. In the same year the advertising trailer “Vertical”, which was shown by the television channel RTL during its broadcasts of the Ski Jumping World Cup, won the “Bronze Lion” in Cannes. This also advertises quattro drive.
The film “Eskimo” also proved extremely popular: a wise old Eskimo explains animal tracks in the snow to his grandson. Finally he identifies a tyre print in the snow as “…Audi…quattro!” Incidentally, an adapted version of this commercial was produced for Arab markets where snow is rather rare: here a Tuareg recognises the quattro tracks in the desert sand.
“The Chase” was based on the Spielberg film “Duel”. In this commercial an Audi allroad quattro is apparently being chased by an enormous black truck, the two vehicles are just centimetres apart. In the end it emerges that the monster truck is being towed by the Audi. Various media reconstructed the scene to find out whether the allroad can really tow a truck. And it can!
Creative and efficient: “GOLD EFFIE” for Audi
Audi has won the “GOLD EFFIE 2002”, the measure of all things in terms of advertising efficiency in Germany. The General Association of Communication Agencies GWA presented the award to Audi and the advertising agency Saatchi&Saatchi of Frankfurt and Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty BBH of London for the outstanding and successful creative strategy behind the multitronic campaign with the commercial “The Fan” and the quattro campaign with the commercial “Wakeboarder”. Audi won the coveted award in the category “Consumer Goods” against a total of nine car campaigns. The Gold Effie was only awarded twice this year."
Ingolstadt, November 2002
Progress through advertising: for the new A8, Audi realised one of the most elaborate campaigns in company history.
* Two-stage print and TV campaign for the new Audi flagship underway worldwide
* To start with the brand is presented through its 103-year history, then the focus will be on the product
* Hollywood standards for the historical TV commercial: digital Bluescreen technology combined with hand-crank cameras
It took almost a year to produce. Weeks and weeks of preparatory research in the Audi Tradition company archives were necessary. Around 600 people – Audi employees, creative experts from advertising agencies and production companies, photographers, a symphony orchestra, composers, directors and actors – were involved. The final edited version – put together from 30,000 metres of film material, digital computer animations of the kind that are usually only made for Hollywood blockbusters, elaborate photo shootings and retouching for advertising motifs – can now be seen in national print media and on television: the worldwide advertising campaign for the new Audi A8. “It is one of the most elaborate projects of this kind in the history of AUDI AG and it fits in perfectly with the company tradition of innovative advertising campaigns,” explains Hans-Christian Schwingen, Head of Marketing Communication at Audi.
For the first time the car manufacturer has opted for a two-stage launch campaign for presenting its flagship to the general public. To start with, in the ‘pre-launch phase’, the brand is presented emotionally through its history – the focus is on the progressive and sporty character of Audi. “The new Audi A8 is the latest evolutionary stage in the company’s 103-year history. We want to present this past, which is rich in innovations and emotions, and show that our slogan ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ has always applied,” continues Schwingen.
The advertising focus in the pre-launch phase is therefore 80 percent on the brand’s history and innovative prowess and 20 percent on the new product. Schwingen: “The car is too important for the company for it to simply just present in on the day it is launched. When the new A8 is launched in the middle of November (launch phase) we will then turn the focus around 80:20 in favour of the product.” The Spanish advertising agency Tandem DDB S.A. in Barcelona is responsible for both the concept and realisation.
A highlight in the pre-launch campaign is the TV commercial “Today”. This was also made in Spain and was produced by Alamo Films in Madrid. This film packs the company’s history, which dates back over 100 years, into 45 seconds. This has been achieved using the kind of state-of-the-art film technology otherwise reserved for Hollywood blockbusters. The film combines historical archive footage with newly filmed scenes. One and the same presenter slips into a total of nine different roles and, starting in 1899, travels through five different epochs of the Audi brand until the new Audi A8 rolls into the picture at the end of the commercial, as the latest stage in the company’s development so to speak. A total of 20,000 metres of old and 10,000 metres of new film material were selected and edited for the commercial.
One of the main challenges faced was to integrate the presenter making the journey through history into the original material in such a way that this is not obvious to the viewer – and to film new scenes so that they look like historical footage. As Gerhard Kiefer, responsible within Marketing Communication for film and photo productions at Audi, explains: “We did this using digital Bluescreen technology. This technique was first perfected in the film ‘Forrest Gump’ staring Tom Hanks in the leading role.” Bluescreen digitisation makes such scenes look deceptively authentic. In the case of the Audi commercial, the main actor was filmed in his various roles in front of a blue wall and edited into the original material subsequently.
Audi also had to reach deep into the box of tricks for one of the different final scenes (not shown in Germany) and for the photo motifs for the printed advertising campaign in which the new A8 drives around the banked corner of the Avus Ring racing circuit in Berlin. The problem is that this time-honoured motor racing venue no longer exists. Yet the pictures look unbelievably realistic. Special computer software makes it possible to reconstruct three-dimensional shots. This technique was used in breathtaking fashion in the cinema epic “Titanic”, for example.
To make it look like the Audi A8 is racing around the banked corner of the Avus circuit, the complete CAD vehicle data for the A8 from Technical Development in Ingolstadt were first entered into the 3D program. In this way a computer animation of the vehicle was produced. The crew then reconstructed a 500 m2 section of the banked curve from bricks on a horse farm in the Eifel region of Germany and photographed the new A8 on it. These pictures were also digitised and entered into the 3D program. With the aid of the old design data for the racing circuit, the computer then calculated the exact course of the banked curve and projected the A8 onto it as if races still took place there today.
All in all it took 340 hours of work at the computer to stage the 45 seconds so perfectly. An interesting contrast to computer technology: parts of the commercial were filmed using two 80 year-old hand-crank cameras to make the subsequently filmed historical scenes appear as authentic as possible.
Kiefer gives another example of the tremendous work that went into making the commercial: “For the subsequently filmed sequence of a historical Grand Prix race, for example, we reconstructed a complete pit setting. The actors’ costumes were also based on originals.”
The film was shot at six different locations: in Ingolstadt and Munich, at the studio in Madrid and at other locations in Spain. The film-makers covered a total of around 5000 kilometres between the various locations until everything was “in the can”. Up to 100 women and men worked on the set, a total of around 600 people were involved in realising the campaign and 500 different minor roles had to be acted out. The principal actor was chosen from 500 applicants. The American actor Donald Kimmel was chosen to play the part of the Audi expert who travels through time. His German voice is provided by Frank Glaubrecht who also dubs the voices of Pierce Brosnan, Al Pacino and Kevin Costner among others.
The highest standards were also applied for the music in the commercial film. As Katrin Schöneberg, Project Manager for the A8 campaign, explains: “The Bratislava Symphony Orchestra provided the background music to the film, a piece by the composer Zivot. The 50 musicians watched the film during recording so that they were able to play every note in time with the pictures.”
In the area of print media, the A8 advertising campaign was launched at the end of September with a 20-page image supplement in the weekend editions of national daily newspapers with a total circulation of around 1.7 million – this too was a unique measure for the launch of a new model. The supplement contained all advertising motifs used for the print campaign which is currently appearing worldwide. These include photos of the luxurious interior of a Horch 8, Type 375, Pullman Saloon from 1929, the Auto Union Type C Grand Prix racing car from 1936, the Auto Union Streamliner from 1937, the Audi Ur-quattro from 1980 and the Audi R8 which won the Le Mans 24 Hours three years in succession.
The second part of the campaign for the launch of the new Audi A8, in which the focus is on the product, is due to start in the middle of November. This will comprise new advertising motifs and a new TV commercial. The advertising film “Father and Son” emphasises the sporting character of the new flagship and shows that a luxury saloon is tremendous fun not only for the father, but also obviously for his young son.
Another special feature of the A8 campaign is that it will be appearing in this form worldwide. Katrin Schöneberg: “We assume that commercials and advertising motifs will appear in up to 70 countries.” This is also a step towards more global branding and image building. Nonetheless, importers will be able to have the historical TV commercial modified to suit their individual needs.
The sequences can be edited in a different order and there are various film lengths and final sequences. And for the Chinese market, one scene was even re-filmed with a Chinese actor.
This principle of modular advertising is cost-effective and the production of several campaigns for different markets was unnecessary. This helps to save additional costs.
Networked creativity – AudiAgencyNetwork
In 1995 Audi set up its own agency pool: AudiAgencyNetwork (AAN). The objective behind this was and is to create a uniform Audi brand image in all markets. All AAN agencies submit their proposals for a new campaign from which Audi can choose. The advantage of this is that each agency is familiar with the Audi brand values and can therefore devise a concept which is based on these. This creative network is made up of an advertising agency in each of the five largest European Audi markets: Saatchi&Saatchi of Frankfurt (Germany), Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty BBH of London (England), Louis XIV DDB of Paris (France), Tandem DDB of Barcelona (Spain) and Verba DDB of Milan (Italy). In the case of the campaign for the new Audi A8, the American agency McKinney&Silver of Raleigh/North Carolina was also involved in the campaign briefing as Audi is expecting considering potential for the new A8 on the US market as well.
Award-winning Audi advertisements
Audi is well-known for its innovative advertising. In the past numerous Audi commercials have caused a sensation both among customers and in the creative industry. Here are some examples from the recent past:
An ad and its somewhat unconventional star made headlines in 2001. The commercial film “The Fan” communicated the advantages of the continuously variable automatic transmission Audi multitronic through an intelligently humorous story. The pelvis-gyrating rock ‘n’ roll doll on the dashboard, an elementary part of the commercial, achieved cult status in Germany and went into mass production due to the huge interested it generated. Over 500,000 Elvis dolls were sold. “The Fan” also picked up a number of awards including the “Silver Lion” at the advertising festival in Cannes, “The Clapperboard 2001”, the “Ottocar in Silver” from the Association of the German Automotive Industry (VDA), the “German Comedy Prize” from the TV channel RTL and the “Clients Award 2001” for the cinema and TV ad of the year.
The film “Wakeboarder” for Audi quattro four-wheel drive also received a “Silver Lion” at Cannes in the year 2000. Here a man is seen riding the waves on his board – he is not towed by a motorboat however, but by an Audi A6 with quattro drive. In the same year the advertising trailer “Vertical”, which was shown by the television channel RTL during its broadcasts of the Ski Jumping World Cup, won the “Bronze Lion” in Cannes. This also advertises quattro drive.
The film “Eskimo” also proved extremely popular: a wise old Eskimo explains animal tracks in the snow to his grandson. Finally he identifies a tyre print in the snow as “…Audi…quattro!” Incidentally, an adapted version of this commercial was produced for Arab markets where snow is rather rare: here a Tuareg recognises the quattro tracks in the desert sand.
“The Chase” was based on the Spielberg film “Duel”. In this commercial an Audi allroad quattro is apparently being chased by an enormous black truck, the two vehicles are just centimetres apart. In the end it emerges that the monster truck is being towed by the Audi. Various media reconstructed the scene to find out whether the allroad can really tow a truck. And it can!
Creative and efficient: “GOLD EFFIE” for Audi
Audi has won the “GOLD EFFIE 2002”, the measure of all things in terms of advertising efficiency in Germany. The General Association of Communication Agencies GWA presented the award to Audi and the advertising agency Saatchi&Saatchi of Frankfurt and Bartle, Bogle, Hegarty BBH of London for the outstanding and successful creative strategy behind the multitronic campaign with the commercial “The Fan” and the quattro campaign with the commercial “Wakeboarder”. Audi won the coveted award in the category “Consumer Goods” against a total of nine car campaigns. The Gold Effie was only awarded twice this year."
#7
Ross Stonefeld
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Posted 02 May 2003 - 14:14
In the winter of 2001/2002 on American financial and news networks there was an Audi history commercial that was one of the longer commercials ive ever seen. It was narrated by Len Hunt and seemed to be the kickoff of the "Never Follow" campaign and had some excellent editing of their racing history throughout the years including the reply of the live broadcast of the 3 and a half minute gearbox/rear end change they did at Le Mans 2000. Really great footage.
#8
TODave2
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- 244 posts
- Joined: January 02
Member
Posted 02 May 2003 - 14:41
Just to expand it out a bit, I've never really thought any car company involved with racing seems to really advertise their racing succesess. I remember when Honda won back to back championships with McLaren that they then had tiny pictures of the F1 car in all their adverts. It was about the first example of this that I'd seen, but even then it seemed a bit apologetic, sort of 'we'd better not shout about this too much' (actually, Honda might not be such a good example as they tend to use racing as a tech-development tool I think...?).
Did Mercedes make anything of their Hakkinen successes? I don't recall Renault making a big fuss about winning with Hill - you would have expected them to make a bit of effort with a 'drive a Renault, the engine that powered Hill' -kind of affair.
I dunno... just always seemed to me that no one seems to make an effort to tie up the racing successes with the marketing...? (just a thought... does this advert stand out because it's a rare example of that? I have seen the ad, I love seeing the Quattro's in action again, fantastic)
Did Mercedes make anything of their Hakkinen successes? I don't recall Renault making a big fuss about winning with Hill - you would have expected them to make a bit of effort with a 'drive a Renault, the engine that powered Hill' -kind of affair.
I dunno... just always seemed to me that no one seems to make an effort to tie up the racing successes with the marketing...? (just a thought... does this advert stand out because it's a rare example of that? I have seen the ad, I love seeing the Quattro's in action again, fantastic)
#9
Ross Stonefeld
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- 70,106 posts
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Member
Posted 02 May 2003 - 15:02
Well in Audi's case there's an actual transfer of technology. The turbos and the AWD. Now even with the Le Mans prototypes they're realy pushing that FSI Direct Injection feature
#10
ehagar
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- 7,979 posts
- Joined: April 01
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Posted 02 May 2003 - 15:27
Originally posted by Ross Stonefeld
In the winter of 2001/2002 on American financial and news networks there was an Audi history commercial that was one of the longer commercials ive ever seen. It was narrated by Len Hunt and seemed to be the kickoff of the "Never Follow" campaign and had some excellent editing of their racing history throughout the years including the reply of the live broadcast of the 3 and a half minute gearbox/rear end change they did at Le Mans 2000. Really great footage.
That was one of the best racing related adverts I have ever seen.
#11
Viss1
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- 9,414 posts
- Joined: March 01
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Posted 02 May 2003 - 16:12
I was fond of the commercial using footage of Michele Mouton in the Quattro Coupe... the jist of it was "The Audi Quattro won x number of rallies between the years y and z... and, oh yes, it was driven by a woman..." They didn't use the footage of her running over the timekeeper's foot, though 
#12
Holger Merten
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- 1,836 posts
- Joined: June 02
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Posted 02 May 2003 - 16:23
Originally posted by Viss1
"The Audi Quattro won x number of rallies between the years y and z... and,
x=24
y=1981
z=1985
#13
Eric McLoughlin
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Posted 02 May 2003 - 17:32
It looks like they airbrushed out the Sawstikas that were painted on the streamlined headrests of the Auto Union record cars.
#14
917
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Posted 02 May 2003 - 19:17
Originally posted by TODave2
Did Mercedes make anything of their Hakkinen successes?
In Germany yes - they run some advertisements with him (and also some with him and his wife Erja) and you could see him also in adverts for other companies. A former colleague who was from Finland told me that these ads were not shown there.
And a bit off topic: how credible are these adverts when a Michael Schumacher praises in 1994 Ford cars, in 1995 Renault and in 1996 Fiat? (But this is no new phenomenon: former football player Franz Beckenbauer made commercials for at least four different car manufacturers over the years.)
#15
Holger Merten
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- 1,836 posts
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Posted 03 May 2003 - 13:32
Originally posted by Eric McLoughlin
It looks like they airbrushed out the Sawstikas that were painted on the streamlined headrests of the Auto Union record cars.
I think they didn't always race the Sawstikas. And thar car in the film is a model, not a real car.;)
#16
JtP
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- 358 posts
- Joined: March 03
Member
Posted 03 May 2003 - 19:44
Originally posted by Darren Galpin
In the UK, Audi have launched an interesting advert for the new A8. It starts off with historic footage of the Audi record attempts on the Autobahn's in the 1930s
Audi really want to advertise their record attempts on the autobahns in the 30s as a method of improving their brand image?
#17
Dennis David
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Posted 03 May 2003 - 20:00
I'm waiting for the new S8 version before I trade in my A6.
#18
Doug Nye
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Posted 03 May 2003 - 20:47
The only thing I recognise here about the Audi TV commercial which I have seen in recent weeks is the applause for Audi's use of their company's (albeit somewhat remote) racing heritage.
If they really put in all the effort and spent all the money claimed I think they've been robbed!
What I have seen is what looks like a very poor and grainy print, horribly 'colourised' and a commercial which makes pretty thinly-founded claims for Audi having been first into aluminium and first with crash testing, etc.
Is this a case of the Emperor's new clothes, or am I just being kermudgeonly???
I think the right question really ought to be:
'Audi's current UK TV commercial - Big deal???
Or over-praised heap of crap????
DCN
If they really put in all the effort and spent all the money claimed I think they've been robbed!
What I have seen is what looks like a very poor and grainy print, horribly 'colourised' and a commercial which makes pretty thinly-founded claims for Audi having been first into aluminium and first with crash testing, etc.
Is this a case of the Emperor's new clothes, or am I just being kermudgeonly???
I think the right question really ought to be:
'Audi's current UK TV commercial - Big deal???
Or over-praised heap of crap????
DCN
#19
Holger Merten
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Posted 03 May 2003 - 20:51
Originally posted by JtP
Audi really want to advertise their record attempts on the autobahns in the 30s as a method of improving their brand image?
Mmmmh, a professional question. I don't think it's a question of brand image, it's more a question of brand heritage and in this case a question, if you want to be innovative and to stay beside MB.
BTW. A good question from a marketing point of view.
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#20
Ray Bell
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Posted 03 May 2003 - 21:11
Some of the lushest print ads in Australia are the double spreads in the Financial Review Magazine where Audi have a presence at the moment...
Their ad is a double A3 (ie A2) sized photo of a prewar record car with selected words around it. The purpose has to be heritage and technology based.
Their ad is a double A3 (ie A2) sized photo of a prewar record car with selected words around it. The purpose has to be heritage and technology based.
#21
Dennis David
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Posted 03 May 2003 - 21:41
I've seen slimmer connections by other brands plus was it their fault they were bombed back into the stone age? ... Don't answer that!
I'll just enjoy driving my Audi and dreaming about Rosemeyer, Caracciola, von Brauchitsch, Varzi, Nuvolari, Don Alfredo and the rest of the bunch.
I'll just enjoy driving my Audi and dreaming about Rosemeyer, Caracciola, von Brauchitsch, Varzi, Nuvolari, Don Alfredo and the rest of the bunch.
#22
Ross Stonefeld
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Posted 03 May 2003 - 22:36
Originally posted by JtP
Audi really want to advertise their record attempts on the autobahns in the 30s as a method of improving their brand image?
It seems to be for credibility. The US A8 ads go basically "in
