How to Improve the Advertising Plan - Assignment Example

Order 115854 Advertising Plan for analysis and improvement Introduction A thing of beauty is a joy forever. To own a good car is the dream of manypersons and among cars, only some are felt to be good and loved universally. Thus to succeed in advertising, the car has to be loved universally, though not all may afford to buy it. Analysis One of the models of cars that are now very popular is called Audi and that is the brand that will be referred to in this write up. The entire plan is to decide on preparing a new advertising plan for the brand. This is not the first time that the brand is being advertised and thus previous advertising has to be referred to and analysed before deciding on the new plan. 1) How do you think that the given market segments, how do consumers make purchasing decisions, what are the key selection criteria? Considering the car market in UK, till 1980, the general opinion of Audi was that it was a car built in Europe and customers were not certain of even the nation of building, the technical capacities and the car had no specific image. The car was not clearly positioned according to the Louis Harris Car Image Study. The position of the car changed to some extent and by 1987, the car slowly moved towards the group of prestige cars. This was due to the “Vorsprung durch Technik” Campaign of the 1980s. Though the car was of the same size as Ford and Vauxhall, it was positioned as a car above them in terms of image. Further improvement was achieved in 1995 when Audi took advantage of the marketing opportunities that were available to it and to an extent this was due to the new models that were introduced. These were called Audi A8 and the Audi A4 and both these cars were far better that the previous models that this brand had. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club) The models were liked by the press and the potential customers, and the particular brands have won a number of awards. This range of models was an improvement on the previous models that it had and those were called Audi 80 and Audi 100. Yet the brand had strong opponents in terms of brand names and prices. There were also new launches coming up from the competitors and the brand had not many advantages in terms of product itself. Thus, it was essential to establish the brand on certain parameters. The advantage of the brand getting into the prestige segment was that it would permit the brand to retain value after a few years of usage and this would encourage the users to buy the car. This can be seen in the case of Mercedes C class, Saab 900i, and Ford Mondeo 2.0 Si, where Mercedes retained 87.5 percent of the value, Saab retained 76 percent and Ford retained only 61 percent. Naturally, the car with the highest prestige would provide unseen advantages for its buyer and thus would find it easier to sell. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club) The general positioning in Britain seems to be with Porsche and Ferrari as members of the Super Prestige group, BMW, Mercedes and Jaguar being members of the prestige group; Volvo and Saab being members of the quality cars group; Ford, Vauxhall, Rover and Renault being members of the mainstream cars group and Kia and Proton being members of the budget cars group. The cars in the prestige and super prestige group are able to charge a higher price, while the sales are the highest for the mainstream cars. In terms of positioning, it was always the objective of Audi to be a member of the prestige cars group. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club) The logic for this is based on volume of production, desired profits and other matters. The consumers also view cars within different groups in a manner that keeps their image in line. The purchasing decision is then based on the cost of the cars and what the user can afford to pay. So far as prestige and super prestige cars are concerned, they charge a premium price and this has to be supported by their image. The positioning of a brand is decided by the manufacturing organisation and there are many reasons for placing it in a particular category. 2) What is “competition” about in this market, what are the key sources of differentiation, what can advertising achieve in this market, is it a weak or strong force? It is clear that all advertising is directed to certain groups of people and in general the success of car advertising reflects this targeting exercise very well. This is the reason why all car advertisements base their advertising on just one basic idea or theme. This can be seen from the emphasis that Volkswagen lays on the Polo and emphasizes that it is sold at a comparatively low price. Looking at another model, Ford Escort, there is an emphasis on the versatility that the car has. Similarly, Daewoo emphasizes that the model comes with many extra features that are not found in models of similar cars. Looking at it, Audi bases its advertising on the superior power and quality that is built in the product. The aspect of quality is emphasised through the statement that the car removes “95 percent of toxic pollutants”, though this may be the picture with most other cars. The only reason for emphasising it is that it sounds impressive. Whether the feature makes it different from other cars is a matter left best to imagination. The car wants to build up its image through the accepted norm that German engineering is good and effective. To emphasise this, the slogan used by the brand is “Vorsprung durch Technik” and this means “Progress through technology in English”. (Audi: In the Nick of Time) If the matter is said in English, all would understand the matter and it would not sound so impressive, but since it is said in German, most do not understand the meaning of the phrase also. (Audi: In the Nick of Time) At the same time, let us look at what the entire advertising has tried to achieve, and it is pushing the brand towards a slot in the prestige brands group. It is probably clear to the owners of the brand name that it will not be able to collect a large enough share in terms of market, and yet, the brand has to make a profit. The only way that this can be achieved is through emphasising some common but unknown aspects of the brand. 3) As part of the above you must review the advertising campaigns of at least four of the company’s major competitors, what are their strategies, what assumptions do they appear to be based on? The advertising of three brands has been discussed, but for the fourth let us concentrate on a brand that is not in the other category of mainstream cars, but let us take another prestige car brand. Common brands in this category are Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar. (Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club) The first point to note is that these cars advertise much less since these brands have been established for long periods of time. On the other hand they concentrate on events of marketing for cars. This contributes to their image. Another aspect which they control is their quality so that the prestige image of the brand is not hurt. The position of Audi in this group is not so secure since it has just been pushed into that group and even consumers probably do not know whether it belongs there or is just a pretender. Thus the advertising has to be built up through images. 4) Evaluate the strategy behind the company’s advertising campaign (infer again) As mentioned earlier, Audi is trying for a change in its spot in the car market. One of the ways of doing this is to emphasise the fact that it is a car for fashion. It also knows well that if one does not belong to the group that has made history, one should make efforts to make it and a supporting feature in this will be the Audi brand. For this purpose, the slogan has been shifted around and now the brand talks about “Great then, great now”. This is an effort to emphasise the history of all the success in motor sport that Audi has had and the new technology that Audi has started using for its cars. Whether the two claims is related, or not, it is left for the audience to decide. To emphasis the statement made in the advertisement, it has to be backed up since even the potential customers would not have heard of the brand for a long time. For this purpose, Audi gets hold of Michele Mouton, the first woman to win World Rally championship to make the statement. She talks about the qualities of Audi and how it turned the world upside down. There is a certain amount of gratitude also since it not only developed a car with an all wheel drive, but also got a woman to drive it. Since the brand does not have enough of history behind it, the advertising tries to bring history through pictures of historic racing cars and their present models. (The New Audi Advertising Campaign-Great Then Great Now Audi of American Press Site) At the same time, one should understand that not many individuals are really interested in motor car racing except for entertainment. There are quite a few reasons behind this and the first is that the speeds shown for motor car racing would never be achieved in London or New York. The second point is that racing cars are notoriously fuel inefficient and in the present days of fuel prices, it would be impossible to drive one economically. 5) What revisions would you make to this strategy in terms of who they are targeting; the objectives of the campaign and how these objectives will be achieved, namely what will you say etc. The biggest question to be considered is whether changes can be made by outsiders who do not have the authority for running the company. The present attempt of the organisation is to come out with a model called the Audi Q7 in 2007. This is supposed to be a new seven seat sport utility vehicle. Though not everybody would be buying that vehicle, they would all be aware of the launches by the company of other models of cars. This will be the first sports utility vehicle of the company though it was the first to launch cars with all wheel drives. This vehicle is being launched by the Volkswagen owned premium division into going into the sports utility cross-over segment, have a plastic body, air suspension and all wheel drive. (Audi Prepares a Refined SUV for the Upper Crust) It is also not a true SUV. There are quite a few other similar vehicles available. At the same time, the company is not forgetting the old matter of Quattro 4 wheel drive. (The New Audi Advertising Campaign - Great Then, Great Now) Thus, to an extent, the company is static. 6) What is your creative solution? This can either be for a press ad or a storyboard for a TV commercial (Key frames plus copy) The main question that has to be asked is whether there is a real difference or not. It is not really possible for a real difference to come up since the vehicle is not priced at a level to sustain high quantities of research which has to go in for making a final difference to the product. At the same time, people also buy similar items at a much higher price since it gives them a mental satisfaction and that comes through art, colour, literature and similar matters. After all it is not the cost of ink or colour that makes individuals like a piece of art. The objective here is to make individuals like the car and even pat a little premium for it, if possible. There is a high amount of competition in the market and thus it is not easy to get a bigger market share or a higher margin, both of which will result in bigger contributions from the brand to the organisation. (Lifestyle Campaign with the Audi A2 colour storm) Thus the suggestion is that colour may be permitted to play a bigger role in the promotion of the brand. This concept of colour may be supported through visual depictions which will be pleasing to the eyes. The concept of colour that is presented should be supported through attractive models that will have the responsibility of making the car even more attractive. The question is of just building up visual attraction and not talking about the improvement of the quality of the car. Some pictures are shown in the appendices, but those are not the end of everything that can be done. (Lifestyle Campaign with the Audi A2 colour storm) There is no real difference, but a difference in the mind that is sought to be created for getting the potential customer to buy the vehicle. Conclusion Often enough we cannot change the situation as it exists in life, but, at the same time, the situation can be made more attractive in appearance. Appendices Picture 1 Picture 2 References Audi: In the Nick of Time. Retrieved from http://www.fantasyfacup.com/matthew/essays/audi.htm Accessed March 15, 2006 Couture, Justin. Audi Prepares a Refined SUV for the Upper Crust. Canadian Auto Press. 21 August, 2005. Retrieved from http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/previews,view,Audi.spy?artid=46539&pg=1 Accessed March 15, 2006 Exon, Richard. 1998. Members only - how advertising helped Audi join the prestige car club. Retrieved from http://www.brand.warc.com/fulltext/ipacases/5980.htm Accessed March 15, 2006 Lifestyle Campaign with the Audi A2 colour storm. 16 February, 2003. Retrieved from http://www.audiworld.com/news/03/a2storm/content.shtml Accessed March 15, 2006 The New Audi Advertising Campaign-Great Then Great Now. Audi of American Press Site. 10 May, 2001. Retrieved from http://media.audiusa.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=9125 Accessed March 15, 2006 Read More