Audi defines the great unknown for VW | Advantage Brands

Audi sold 82,716 cars in the US in 2009, no mean feat considering the recession and the great reputations of the Hondas and the Toyotas. It’s Diesel campaign for the first time put something other than a car on the road for its leitmotif

It’s Audi’s third Superbowl now and Scott Keough, Audi CMO makes a great ambassador across Forbes, Adage and other business knowns, publishing his great.

It helps that the makers of the Prius and the Insight have their hands full with millions of cars in recall and that Sporty Contracts like Maria Sharapova for Landrover and Tiger Woods for Buick are no longer available.

As Scott Keough mentioned to Forbes last week:

The migration from luxury cars is playing into Audi’s hands. Consumers are separating old luxury with brand baggage from new, sleek, light luxury. They’ve moved away from old badge brands, but they’re moving toward substance and technology. We’re finding that people appreciate Audi for being an understated brand.

According to the Adage video Podcast, Audi’s budget for the year is up 20% selling more Clean Diesel to Americans against the odds. It’s campaign last year proved that it doesn’t take much to send all the 1.5 million BPD of Saudi Oil back. The campaign is a refreshing reminder to Dodge, Ford, Nissan and BMW that they need not just their car models on a highway in their next advertisement on the network.

Hyundai’s Joel Ewanick on the other hand will continue to upscale Hyundai’s offering from cheap small cars. The company guaranteed new buyers a year’s worth of gas at $1.49 per gallon after early 2009 ads promising good credit history failed to click. Hyundai’s advertising has ben the exact unremarkable variety with cash backs, discounts and a full screen car close up that has characterized informed Car advertising in the US for the past two decades.

With Digital Advertising revenues up 15% for 2009, linkages to online business models have become critical for Superbowl campaigns since last year as well when Go Daddy, Careerbuilder and E*Trade successfully converted their euphoric ad response into instant online Karma. Audi however has tougher eggs to fry with each unit purchase of the advertised product costing a tangible % of the cost of production of the advertisement and even its $2.6 billion Superbowl insert charge paid to CBS.

Audi’s 2009 Ad dented the value proposition of the Prius and set new standards for Car Advertising in the crunch season. FOR THE VIDEO CLICK HERE

The other Superbowl campaigns continue to work around their old favourites, Coke using anime in the Avatar campaign, more than a couple of banned commercials in, with KGB the newbie also adding a couple. Doritos campaign is still choosing the winners and CB and EA will be their toning down their inital ads. Bud’s burning down a house made of beer cans alone.

In Car business, Toyota has to get a Social Rebound budget to make up for $1.6 billion lost in 4 weeks of Sales shutdown ( 20000 Cars at $20k per week)