Audi: a lesson in brand investment
All too often, companies ponder if it’s worth it to invest in marketing activities such as branding. There is a misconception of that task to begin with, but for the sake of making this post short-ish, let’s assume business owners know that branding is more than having a “cool” logo and tagline. The misconception is that only large brands need to do branding, and that once people already know your name, spending on branding initiatives could cease. A rather appropriate example has just popped up to explain why the brand conversation is not a quick chat, but instead is an ongoing dialog.
It wasn’t that long ago that Audi was being pushed out of the luxury automobile market. Audi had received a lot of bad press in the late 1980s and early 1990s for a rash of problems with their 5000 series. The bad press put a dent in their earnings and the next few years saw many more problems: inferior craftsmanship, unreliable products, horrible service, expensive repairs, etc. As recently as 2008, the often-quoted Consumer Reports’ 2008 Car Brand Perception Survey had Audi rank just ahead of Acura and behind Mitsubishi as the least desirable car brand.
Today, 3 short years later, the Audi brand ranks #3 for luxury brands on Facebook, according to a recent MarketingProfs article. The young crowd suddenly thinks Audi is cool. So how did Audi turn things around? It looks like they took a feather out of the Apple cap and went to work on cleaning up their brand. (Not to mention taking advantage of some serious brand placement opportunities. Did you see “I, Robot” and “Iron Man”?)
Much like the pre-millennial Apple, Audi was plagued with indifference and so-so marketing efforts. The cars only seemed to appeal to the real fans and as far the marketplace knew, they were just more expensive Volkswagens. The brand perception game is tricky, but for consumer businesses, it must be played. To win at it, you must play it with conviction. High-end design cues, perceived value, and some form of exclusivity are just some of the variables that get in the way of the becoming the “it” brand. What we have seen lately from Audi, is that they are getting all of these things as close to perfect as they can. Are they past Mercedes-Benz in the minds of the consumers yet? Maybe not all of them, but on Facebook an up and coming car buying group thinks that they are.
What examples of brand turnarounds have you noticed? Share your thoughts and sound off in comments..
Putting mind-bendingly cool concept car in a very successful movie? (US Box Office $144.7M and a RottenTomatoes Audience Rating of 73%)
Ya, that’ll help a brand. =)
As for brand turnarounds, who can forget Old Spice’s “I’m on a horse” voiced by Isaiah Mustafa? This isn’t your grandfather’s deodorant anymore!
Hello Mike
Yes cool tactics do help in terms of raising awareness and adding buzz. In the case of both Audi and Apple, they rode the wave of cool points garnered from product placement in movies and TV shows. The Old Spice sales growth and new found relevance is also a great story ( however, buying a $8 bottle of Old spice is not the same risk as buying a PC or Luxury Auto). All stories are great examples of brands rising from the ashes. One brand to keep an eye out for will be blackberry, do they have the marketing magic, like Old Spice to rally and gain back some of the past glory?