Hike #2: Audi's commitment to "Innovation" and "Quality" and its Brand Positioning Strategies

Introduction

When thinking of Audi, it's very likely that you would picture a fairly luxurious, sporty car made from high quality materials. And that is exactly the image that Audi aims to convey to the public. This can also be derived from Audi's slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik", which translates to "Advancement Through Technology" (Company | Audi.com, n.d.).This slogan embodies all of Audi's core values that they communicate in their commercials, on their websites and all the other media platforms that they utilize. Recurring key words in their marketing efforts are:

"(High) Quality", "Progressive", "Sustainability", "Innovation", "Premium". This isn't surprising when considering the type of customers that Audi aims to target. Another thing that would come to mind when considering Audi is the logo with the 4 iconic rings, all contributing to the overall brand image and positioning they aim to achieve. This weeks topic will therefore be centered around Audi's brand positioning and their different brand positioning strategies utilized in their various commercials.

Audi's Clientele:

Before digging further into the brand positioning of Audi it would be useful to know who Audi actually aims to target. This would provide a useful insight into the reasons behind Audi's branding strategies and give key insights into the message they try to convey. As mentioned before, Audi is mainly focused on conveying their emphasis on quality, innovation and sustainability to the public. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that Audi aims to sell their products to consumers that can be found on the more wealthy end of the market. To be more specific, upper-middle class or high income individuals with above average purchasing power who value luxury and performance. The age range that Audi aims to reach are individuals between 30 and 50 year old, which captures both Millennials and late Gen X. Other aspects that Audi buyers value are elegance, sophistication, but also the technologies that are implemented into the car (Tbh, 2023).

Audi's Brand Positioning Strategies

So how does Audi exactly convey their core values to their intended public? And which strategies do they use in order to make sure they maintain their intended brand image? In order to answer these questions, we need to zoom in on the Audi's commercials as they illustrate perfectly how Audi implements their positioning strategies to maintain their brand image as well as their market position.

(Minneapolis, n.d.)

Commercial #1: 2006 Audi Key Ring Commercial (Head-On)

As can be seen in the video above, Audi compares their brand with their direct competitors in a very ingenious way. First they introduce the other brands with their respective key chain and what they are known for. So Alfa Romeo is introduced by the 'design' aspect of their brand, Mercedes for their comfort, Volvo for their safety and BMW for their sportiness. Together, these keychains form the Audi logo after which the message appears "in one car only?". This emphasizes the stance of Audi towards their competitors as they believe that their car is more complete than the car of the competition and embodies all of the qualities that direct competitors are known for, rather than just one of the qualities. This is one of the key-aspects of the head-on positioning strategy, as Audi aims to demonstrate that their product is actually better than the competitors' cars.

(Audi, 2023)

Commercial #2: 2023 commercial introducing the Q-models (Innovation Positioning)

When looking at a more recent example of Audi's commercials, it is noticeable that the emphasis lies more on the innovation aspect of the brand. Rather than comparing the brand to its competitors, the emphasis lies on the different characteristics and technical aspects of the car. Such as the design of the headlights, the fact that the car is all-wheel drive which makes it suitable for all weather types, the high-power charging option implemented into the car (170 kW) and the range of the car. Mainly with the aim to stress how they differentiate from the competition, emphasizing how their car is better than competitors' brands.

(Minneapolis, n.d.)

Commercial #3: 2010 'Green Police Super Bowl Ad' (Lifestyle Strategy)

In the advertisement shown above, we see a lot of different cases in which people are being arrested for choosing 'non-green' alternatives or non 'eco-friendly' in their daily lives in a humorous way. By the end of the commercial they show their car, also called the TDI, being addressed as 'Clean Diesel' and therefore approved by the green police. In this way they try to market their car as eco-friendly and reach the audience that values eco-friendliness highly, and consider it a part of their lifestyle and their daily choices. In this way Audi tries to position itself as the eco-friendly option in the market for drivers who value eco-friendliness highly.

---

Sources Used:

• Audi. (2023b, May 1). The Audi Q models [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nfq18MG7Mo

  
  

• Company | Audi.com. (n.d.-a).audi.com.https://www.audi.com/en/company.html

  
  

• Minneapolis, A. (n.d.-b). Historic Audi TV Commercials | Audi Minneapolis. https://www.audiminneapolis.com/historic-audi-tv-commercials.htm

  
  

• Tbh, T. (2023b, June 15). Marketing Strategies, Marketing mix and STP of Audi. The Brand Hopper. https://thebrandhopper.com/2023/06/15/marketing-strategies-marketing-mix-and-stp-of-audi/