Search results matching tag 'audi'

Audi kills the press release

917990 — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 13:50:00 GMT

With my part time motoring journalist hat on it was with sadness that I read the letter from Audi’s press office this week about the proposed replacement of their printed press packs with email.

Frankly, I’ve marvelled for years that they could still afford to send out all those sumptuous glossy photos on a weekly basis but at the same time I congratulated them for not doing a Mercedes and lazily referring you to a website where you are expected to mine for the information.

And the direct mail approach worked, I used a release only last month for a Christmas round up piece and there’s no denying you felt good towards Audi for investing in you. On the flip side, it’s going to be far more convenient to receive information by email, we’ll no doubt get videos as well as jpegs and the information will be more frequent and relevant – assuming they get their email marketing right.

Audi’s line is that it’s a move to offer optimum efficiency to the UK motoring press, though it doesn’t take a genius to see that the impetus was financial. I fear we may be seeing the last of its kind but whilst the hard copy press release is still an option (by request) I’ll cling on.

Do Volvo want me to think they are Audi, BMW, Alfa Romeo or er...Volvo?

1225254 — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 11:51:00 GMT

I received a mailing from Volvo yesterday. The envelope promised "Every new Volvo glovebox comes with one important extra". Open up and I discovered a blank Visitors Booklet (sic), the concept being (I guess) that friends and family will be so impressed that they will leave notes about the car and their journey. Unfortunately, this charming little gimmick is executed without a hint of irony. They really sound quite earnest about it, and in that they are falling in line with the norm for automotive tone and style.

With the honourable exception of older Volkswagen work, most car copy is gushing, full of cliche and hyperbole and accompanied by imagery of models being driven through awe-inspiring landscapes. All designed for people at least 20 years younger than the consumers who actually buy them.

But hey. We've all done it and I'm as guilty as most. I had one automotive client scrawl 'turgid' over my copy. What was worse was that he was right.

However, I'll overlook the fact that Volvo still don't seem sure what car I have (it's a V50) or that there's no price list included so I've no idea which new model(s) are in my range.We Volvo owners are a loyal bunch, so what is it that they want me to think I'm getting if I buy another one?

Is it for their aesthetic beauty and interior design as the concept suggests? Mmmm.... Or is it because I think they are a safe option for the kids (a very credible reason)? Or that they are a premium brand that doesn't shout 'I'm an arrogant tosser" (another plausible reason)? Or does a Volvo suggest I still care about the environment? (well perhaps, but tricky). The trouble is I'm not sure what I think of the brand as a result of this mailing. It seems to say a little bit of all these things, but not one thing in a compelling way. If you're going to focus on design, show the product in sensual glory (like Alfa Romeo), don't rely on words to do that job. The trouble with 'range mailings' is you end up presenting your glamorous Coupe the same way as your 4 x 4.

There is something in the 'independence of choice' that choosing a Volvo demonstrates and maybe something in the perception that Volvo drivers 'care more about society'. Volvos are no longer square boxes, indeed most are now pretty handsome, but they are not going to convince fully there. The copy hints at a brand idea - clearly lifted directly from the research - that Volvo is about 'we' not 'me'. I think there's something in that even though it's a hard one to explain - they get closest when talking about 'safety and reducing environmental impact' but then confuse it with the Visitors' Book - safety and greenness aren't topics you'd write about in a Visitors' Book, you'd talk about the design or comfort.

"Safe cars for families" is potent but too limiting. There is little heritage for "design icons" (bar the P1800). But there might be something in "the discerning alternative" now that Audi is encroaching on BMW territory. Maybe Volvo is struggling with its identity? If so, it's not the only one but it is still in a better place than most car brands to meet changing consumer values and I wish them luck. But I do wish they'd put the ignition key in the right place.

Marketing ploy

255762 — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 16:55:34 GMT

It's D-Day, or rather national 6.06.06 marketing ploy day.
I'm disappointed by how few examples I've been able to find so far of companies using the quirky date format that happily comes around every hundred years.

There is, of course, the remake of scary devil child movie 'The Omen', which its makers have been relentlessly pushing for the last couple of months hoping that the fortuitous number of the beast date will make up for the total lack of ideas in the shot-by-shot remake of the 70s hokum.

Audi has added a couple of extra sixes to a press ad for its Audi S6. Oh to be a copywriter.

So far possibly the lamest press release of the day to shameless cash in on 666:

Press Release: Day of Biblical Proportions Has Finally Arrived June 6, 2006: D Day

Monday June 5, 6:59 pm ET

A Day to Announce the Coming of…ONCOR Entertainment's Battle Against Autism''

OK... the battle with autism. Quite shameless.

Eurovision winners Finnish metal band Lordi, who surely won for their costumes and nothing else, release their -winning song 'Hard Rock Hallelujah' today although sadly the group claims they have "no links whatsoever" with Satanism.

Luckily for them, their marketing people do.

In the States, right-winger Ann Coulter uses today to release her latest book, ‘Godless: The Church of Liberalism’. I know those liberals with their touchy feely pluralism and...

Not to be left out, bookmakers are offering odds of 100,000 to 1 that the world will end on "Apocalypse Tuesday", although I'm not sure how you will collect on that one exactly.

On a non-marketing front it is also the 62nd anniversary of D-Day and the start of the battle to liberate Europe. So if you've donated nothing to charity this year head over to the Royal British Legion, which has jut launched its 2006 Poppy Support Campaign. posted by Gordon @ 9:22 AM 1 comments links to this post