Applicant: Nords Porter Novelli in cooperation with Moller Auto Baltic Lapa 1 no 3 Category: Integrated marketing communications

The New Audi TT Launch

Integrated marketing communication campaign

Campaign description The first Audi TT – Audi sports coupe car – swiftly conquered the sports coupe car segment right after its launch in 1998. This model of Audi TT is still considered a trend-setter and icon of style. Being aware of the achievements of the first model of Audi TT, the Audi team had to work hard and for a long time on the new model of Audi TT, which was presented with a tremendous show in April 2006 in Berlin. The first presentations of Audi TT in the Western Europe proved that the Audi team has been successful in improving the visual appearance of the new model, and significantly improved the driving comfort and dynamics. The challenge faced by Audi globally and in Latvia in 2006 was to communicate successfully the advantages of the new model, establishing all the required preconditions is that the new Audi TT would also become a trend-setting car. Presentation of the new Audi TT in Latvia was planned to become an event to remember not only for the potential customers of Audi – people enjoying life and quality design, but also for the automotive industry, media and public, proving again that the slogan “Vorsprung durch Technik” (slogan of the Audi brand) is true. Existing situation Starting planning for the campaign, Nords Porter Novelli (NPN) has done thorough study of the existing practice of presentation of new cars in Latvia. Considering the serious and financially-intensive marketing activities of the competitors for launching campaigns of new models, it was important to find a non-traditional approach, which would be best suitable for creation of a trend-setting status (e.g., using word-of-mouth and support of selected advertising media). Based on these considerations, NPN elaborated an integrated marketing communication plan that would differ from the conventional plan for presentation of cars (presentation to media, test drives for journalists of automotive media and a conventional massive leasing financing campaign in the mass media). Campaign strategy Campaign objectives: (1)foster increased interest and significant word-of-mouth about the new Audi TT model prior to the first presentation in Latvia; (2 ) promote sales of Audi TT model; (3) strengthen the philosophy of Audi “Vorsprung durch Technik” Target group: (1) Economically active population of Latvia, people enjoying sports driving, good design, people who see a car as an element of lifestyle; (2) people choosing the Audi brand Message: “The new TT is here” Communication channels: (1) Non-conventional word-of-mouth events and celebrity participation; (2) Radio activation and broadcasts; (3) Conventional advertising channels - video, cinema trailers; (4) web advertising, outdoor media;( 5) life-style media Communication ideas and methods: The campaign of the Audi TT model was based on elaborating and implementing integrated marketing communication ideas by combining conventional advertising, relations with mass media, client and mass media loyalty programme and implementation of “partisan marketing” elements. When developing the campaign, it was considered that the public presentation of the new model of Audit TT to the clients and media representatives was planned later on, therefore it was important to promote the public interest even before the possibility to see and enjoy the new model. The marketing tools used in the campaign were activated gradually, so that the integrated communications would form a single message to the potential clients and promote strong dissemination of the information by word-of-mouth. (1) Radio activation or “TT broadcasts” – on the day (1 September) when the first Audi TT car was registered in Riga, in cooperation with radio SWH and SWH + live broadcasts were organised from the new Audi TT. The first person in Latvia to drive with the new Audi TT was the automotive experts Kārlis Auza and Normunds Avotiņš, who were contacted by DJs of radio SWH – Edmunds Kaševskis and Artis

Applicant : Nords Porter Novelli in cooperation with Moller Auto Baltic Lapa 2 no 3 Category: Integrated marketing communications

Volfs. “TT broadcasts” were organised live on both stations, addressing the audience directly and its duration was 7-10 minutes in each of the stations, expressing emotions about how it feels to drive the new model and what are the improvements. (2) “Partisan marketing” or “TT brothers” – in addition an idea was developed on showing the new Audi TT in the streets of Riga for the first time through involvement of celebrities that would match the target audience of the new model, thus increasing even more the interest among the target audience. Two weeks prior to the public demonstration of the new model of Audi TT in Latvia the 2 well-known brothers Guntars and Jānis Traubergs ( Traubergs + Traubergs = TT) spent an intensive weekend with the new TT, visiting different restaurants in Riga, popular clubs to meet their friends and to attend different entertainment sites. Within this campaign the parking places for the TT were specially reserved in places of high visibility. The travel of both brothers with their TT was noticed and “caught” on tape in boulevard press, lifestyle media and on radio. (3) Product placement or “Is it really the new TT?” – In addition to the celebrity activation programme, a more non-conventional product placement methods were used to promote the surprise effect of the potential target audience on these models not seen in Latvia before. The new models of Audi TT were placed during a weekend according to a previously developed plan in different public places in Riga and Jurmala, cars were parked in front of popular cafes, restaurants, cinemas and clubs, thus triggering true surprise of the direct target audience – “How comes, is it the new TT? Is it already available in Riga?” (4) Web activation – In the portals TVNet; Delfi and Leta an advertising banner was placed with a link to a specially developed Audi TT interactive micro-link where it was possible t in the dynamic nature of the new model, its sporty excellence and elegant design. The initial message of the banner was – “Expect the new Audi TT!”, in the middle of the campaign this message was replaced by “Get to know the new Audi TT! „. (5) Movie festival activation – being aware of the interests of the potential buyers and their life-style, in cooperation with advertising agency DDB a TV trailer was created for the Audi image which was shown as a cinema trailer in the movie festivals held in autumn last year – “Baltijas Pērle”; “Arsenāls” and “Futureshorts”. The trailer was emotional and was more like a short movie, since its task was not to inform about the advantages and benefits of buying the car, but rather to reflect the Audi philosophy (“New energy revolution” ) and provide an aesthetic joyful experience to the audience. (6) Out-door media – 2 out-door media posters were prepared in elegant Audi style and clearly conveyed the message of the new model – “Pure energy. The new Audi TT”. The placement of out-door media advertising was planned based on the routes favoured by the potential target audience. (7) Style sections and advertising layouts in printed press – a separate photo shooting session was organised, with specially written script and props to create separate style sections in the magazines Pastaiga and Pastaiga.Ru. The main idea of the creative concept behind the style sections was: “On the move; energy; beauty of adventure”. In addition to placement of the style sections in the life-style magazines of Latvia, advertising layouts were placed in selected media to address the specific target audience – Impulss; Latvijas Arhitektūra; kapitāls; Klubs Measurement criteria (1) Interest in the new Audi TT, (2) support to sales indicators, Campaign results (1) Word-of-mouth is a phenomenon difficult to measure, however, it must be noted that in the weekend

in September 2006 the new Audi TT was one of the most topical discussion topics among clubbers. The positive “rumours” was increased by the radio broadcasts and publications on the Internet and in boulevard press about the “entertainment" enjoyed by the Traubergs brothers and their TT in Riga. A proof for returns on the activities is the interest of the potential buyers shown in possibility to purchase the new model of Audi TT right after the first activities with participation of the Traubergs brothers. Although the precise data are confidential, a significant number of potential clients contacted Audi to find out when the new TT will be available, also the traffic of Audi TT website

Applicant : Nords Porter Novelli in cooperation with Moller Auto Baltic Lapa 3 no 3 Category: Integrated marketing communications

increased significantly. In the result of the campaign the TT became one of the most expected Audi models in 2006.

(2) Sales indicators: 10 cars ordered, which is to be considered a good achievement in the narrow niche of the new and expensive coupe cars in Latvia. The impact of the campaign is felt even now – the clients are taking interest in possibility to order the new TT even without the support of further communication.