Audi social media strategy PDF

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Social media strategies in car companies - Audi...

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Digital Marketing Group Report As we take a dive and look back on the digital age of marketing, we can clearly see the step by step history of the success and bloom of digital marketing. It all began in the early 1990s, where the internet was a popular source of information but there was no interaction. In 1993 it all changed when some of the first clickable banners appeared whilst browsing the web. This was the birth of a new era and a whole new tactic for marketing. This new tactic spread like wild fire as organisations began to buy out online banners for marketing. This was the first real step in the transformation to a new digital age. In the late 1990s a worldwide known search engine known as Google took the stage. Google ’s ability to find and interact was the future of the digital marketing era. Followed by blackberry creating their own interactive emailing system lead to many other interactive social networks such as MySpace and Facebook. This really was an exciting time for organisations to expose there traits through advanced digital marketing. One company that took advantage of the evolving digital market was Audi. One of the world’s best-known and most lusted after high end automotive brands, its luxury and exotic abilities are renowned for innovative engineering, outstanding performance and progressive design. Over the years Audi has sky rocketed and made history in the automotive industry. A well-known motto within Audi "Vorsprung durch Technik", which translates to "Advancement through technology" shows the dedication and aspiration Audi is committed to. As we look further into the digital marketing advancement and growth of Audi, we can understand the evolution of the electronic market place and its relationship with the social environment. Over the years Audi has portrayed its image in advancement of automotive engineering staying true to its motto. Looking back at the history of Audi, we can understand how the company has adapted to the new ways of the world. Audi was generated from 4 private automotive firms creating what is known today as one of the world’s leading automotive organisations. No organisation is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes. In the 1980s Audi suffered a huge set back in sales due to unintended acceleration defaults. Cremer and Lavell (2010) reported that after this unexpected incident Audis sales figures of over 75,000 sold a year drastically plunge down to just over 12,000 sales in 1990. This crisis brought a great unexpected threat to the directors

of Audi giving them no choice to change their direction of marketing. In order for Audi to recover from recent bad press Audi decided to redevelop new strategies of creating new models and a reorganisation of distribution networks. With digital marketing advancing through the 90s Audi took advantage by advancing there marketing and adapting new ways of modern digital marketing. In this day and age of advancing media and technology, where customers are bombarded with marketing messages every day, it is very difficult for organisations to move forward efficiently without using marketing tools. Online marketing is a highly important technique for organisations to master due to the fast adoption of the internet, use of computers and the instant availability to other devices. According to Cremer and Lavell Digital marketing is developing extremely fast and is the easy, go-to solution that organisations use to obtain vast amounts of customers. Digital marketing has limitless options and ideas with the only boundary being how far the imagination can stretch. Audi uses digital marketing to allow customers to experience tangible and intangible feelings. Through their advertisement their focus is based on giving the owner a luxury environment with advanced automotive technology. Allowing the owner to drive in comfort and providing a driving experience like no other.

Electronic commerce is proven to facilitate an extraordinary advantage through digital marketing. Much of today’s communication is transmitted digitally through many different sources and can influence a competitive advantage for each organisation. Many Organisations are having to adjust and adapt for new methods of digital communication, enabling an organisation to communicate quicker and more efficiently with distributors, investors, buyers and so on, thus creating more pressure to the leaders and managers to keep up to date with the latest digital technology. Digital Marketing can have a great impact on a business’ success, if used correctly it can Increase sales, Facilitate Promotion, product distribution and new product development. in 1995 the perspective on the internet was that "the web has the potential to radically change the way their firms do business with their customers by blending together publishing, real-time communication

broadcast, and narrowcast" (Benjamin and Wigand, 1995) Which evidence has shown that 20 years later the Web has created a huge online market for customers. Social Media has subconsciously become a vast free method of advertising that can be used by businesses. Social Media "Describes a variety of new sources of online information that are created, initiated, circulated and used by consumers intent on educating each other about products, brands, services, personalities and issues" Blackshaw & Nazzaro 2004 p.2) With websites such as Facebook and Instagram; allow people to upload images of whatever they want, often pictures of their pets, food or children, and many times a product that has been bought, and has been shared to the world without the manufacturer even knowing, many people will end up seeing the product and be influenced by viewing the product on social media, and may end up researching into it or even buying it, however this cannot always be a good thing as negative reviews can be left with the intention to bring the products reputation down. A good example of a successful item is the "Selfie Stick" Virtually no advertising has been applied to this product as it advertises itself through social media with owners taking 'selfies'. Gillin (2007) In his book "The New Influencers" states just the amount of power that a consumer has on influencing those around them through social media, he says "Conventional marketing wisdom has long held that a dissatisfied customer tells ten people. But that is out of date. in the new age of social media, he or she has the tools to tell ten million" (p.4) A dissatisfied consumer in the past could easily be overlooked, but now there is even more pressure on companies to deliver consumer satisfaction. "consumers are in control; they have greater access to information and greater command over media consumption than ever before" Vollmer & Precourt (p.5 2008) When a company can get the consumer on the right side they can be a great tool for advertising and promoting the product for free. Toyota, A car company has used this to their advantage by creating a blog in which consumers can submit feedback about the product through its "Open Road Blog" (Toyota, 2008) Feedback will of course come both negatively and positively, but gives a chance for the company to respond to negative feedback that would have may thrown potential buyers off and gives a second chance at gaining a new consumer. Ways in which Digital Marketing affects other aspects of the marketing mix than Promotion are that it can give a greater advantage of explaining the product to consumers, a customer no longer needs to leave the

house to be bombarded with advertisements for products and services, A television advert can be displayed in the middle of a consumers favourite television program to attract attention, Adverts can be placed at the side of their favourite websites and so on, If an Organisation had sufficient money, they would be able to dominate most forms of technology within someone’s house with advertising, as the average person in the UK spends 7 hours a day using digital technology whether it be the Internet, Television or mobile phones etc. According to a news report by Liz Thomas (2010), digital marketing is also a great use for gathering research for a product, with the ability to create surveys, questionnaires and feedback requests is a quick and easy way to collectively gather the thoughts of the needs and wants of the potential consumers. Alternatively existing research conducted by other companies could be used. When this research is used correctly, it can help the business to find out what the consumer really wants, and is then able to tailor the product to fit the consumer’s needs, a way of obtaining new customers is to then build a strong reputation of the product through the satisfaction of the consumers. And from then the organisation must maintain that reputation, Benjamin Franklin once said "It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it." It is essential that a company retains its credibility and reputation to maintain a strong consumer interest. Audi is a company which has done exceptionally well at this.

As we said in the first part, Marketing has played an instrumental role in Audi’s inexorable rise from being a small brand to challenging for the leadership in the car market. For more than 25 years, Audi ’s distinctive approach has continued to challenge the boundaries of convention in marketing and the car industry alike. Audi has always been innovative in the way it reaches its customers, pushing the boundaries of convention, expectation and technological possibility and proving the brand’s progressive credentials rather than just claiming them. However, this has never been about news for its own case. Innovation has also allowed the brand to communicate in new and more relevant ways with the audience. As car news became part of entertainment culture, in 1999 Audi created the Audi TV Channel. This was one of the first branded TV channel. It created a singular platform for prospective customers to engage with the brand at their own spare time within the context of TV entertainment and without the pressure of a showroom. In 2009 the channel moved from Sky to an on-demand model as it continued to evolve.

Audi has also always thought about an imaginative content creation around its products. In fact, for example, since 1994 Audi has been a magazine publisher, producing a high-quality monthly magazine. For the launch of the new TT, Audi offered contemporary versions of classic music tracks, with its ‘TT Remastered’ campaign. Audi was the first car brand to move online, winning awards for its creativity as early as 1996. Audi.co.uk functions as a virtual dealership, enabling customers to research and configure the perfect Audi.

Audi social media strategy Audi has a huge presence on the Internet. Further to the official website which can be found in different languages, it has a big presence on the social networks. Audi has presence on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Google+, where you can find out about Audi’s upcoming events and see news, videos and previews of the latest concepts. It has also a great presence on Instagram, Tumblr and Pinterest for the latest official pictures and videos of the car models. Finally, even YouTube is very important for the latest videos about the world of Audi, from exciting new car models to advanced Audi technology. This presence on the Internet is a digital marketing strategy called Audi social media strategy. It is based on long-term target to "connect consumers in bold new ways and break through the traditional approach to social media platforms." Audi’s largest social media entities are Audi USA on Facebook and @Audi on Twitter which are operated by Audi of America. The official Audi R8 Facebook page has more than 28 million likes, Audi USA page has more than 8.9 million likes and also has individual Facebook pages for different countries (Audi UK, Audi Deutschland, Audi Italia, Audi France, etc.). Audi had been using the various social networking sites to promote its brand and company also utilizes its social user engagement platform to really understand the fans, boost engagement levels and improve the overall user experience. Audi believes that fans are most important for the brand success and use the social data about their fans and develop content that significantly improves the customer engagement. Audi had been aggressively building its social media presence for the past few years and the company has widely acclaimed for its innovative social media campaigns particularly its twitter campaigns, a unique bridge between social media and TV, being an early adopter of using hashtags in TV ads. Audi was the first

Super Bowl advertiser to attach a hashtag to a Super Bowl spot in 2011 for its advertisement “#ProgressIs” for “Luxury Prison” that encouraged conversation on Twitter before, during and after the game, and Audi also used a similar strategy in its 2014 super bowl advertisement with #StayUncompromised, based on the “no compromise” strategy promoted in the TV spot “Doberhuahua.” Another important twitter campaign was the #WantAnR8 campaign. It has started in 2011 when a super fan of Audi just tweeted to them how much she wanted the Audi R8 over and over and over again and Audi surprised her with one of the vehicles at her house. So then, every year Audi start this campaign where fans post their videos to YouTube and Twitter with the hashtag #WantAnR8. According to Audi, previous years' winners will select the next winner who will choose either one day with the newest model of a R8 in their hometown or a weekend trip to the Audi sportscar experience in Sonoma. “The #WantAnR8 hashtag has been used more than 100,000 times in the last few years, making it one of the most successful recent Twitter campaigns” Audi says.

Audi city Audi social media success highlights the fact the automakers can look at social media as a reliable way of communicate with customers and followers. But Audi has always thought how to bring what you can do on an Audi website into an Audi’s car showroom. In July 2012, Audi opened near Piccadilly Circus in London a genuine virtual showroom that allows customers to create their perfect Audi. Once customers configure their dream car from millions of possible options, they can experience the life-size product using the most sophisticated visualisation and display technology showed in a high-definition and 3D environment. Audi also allows you to look at the range of models which can be seen digitally in the compact space. Audi City combines innovative technology with top-class architecture: the multi-touch tables that you can find inside the showrooms entertain customers with emotional and brand-related video content, but also allow direct access to the configuration process. Users experience the virtual product and explore their dream car from various different perspectives. They can open doors and roofs, select and discover. Once the users have finished their configuration they can swipe to project it onto the showroom walls in order to experience it on a full scale. But Audi City is more than a car dealership. During the day, customers come in to find out about the new Audi models, while in the evenings, Audi City offers a diverse programme of readings,

exhibitions and discussion forums, for example in relation to urban development and mobility or on subjects from the areas of art, culture and design. Audi City has already opened in Beijing and London and more locations, such as Barcelona, Shanghai, Rome, Paris, Berlin, New York and Moscow, will follow in the next few years.

Conclusion From this report, we have assessed the ways in which Audi has created a competitive advantage through digital marketing. Using methods such as social media, features on popular television shows such as Top Gear and creating a reputation of luxury and class portrayed through current owners. Audi has managed to retain a profitable and dominant business market, and have emphasised this dominance through digital marketing. In conclusion, Audi has managed to create a digital marketing environment in which other car manufacturers such as Mercedes and BMW have to keep up with, to avoid loss of valued customers or potential buyers. By doing this, Audi is now perceived as one of the most sought after car manufacturers in the world. Having this reputation, enables Audi to branch out into other methods of advertising such as Audi City, which adds a unique flair to the company. Using the methods through digital marketing, a competitive advantage has been created and allows the company to extend to a larger market resulting in a greater profit margin.

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