Visit Sinister Beauty – 80 000 people eaten for breakfast

The campaign certainly gave people a taste for the shadows: so far it has generated 13.4m advertising impressions in total across the campaign, a click through rate of between 2-5 times industry average, and well over 61,000 people have experienced the RS4’s lair at www.sinisterbeauty.co.uk.

Audi were launching the RS4, a powerful, stylish sports saloon and their fastest production car ever. They wanted to use the RS4 to create a “halo effect” on the Audi brand: to help build Audi’s reputation for producing exciting new vehicles and drive its overall image as a progressive, prestige brand, as well as increase interest in the A4, the RS4’s more affordable younger brother.

The TV campaign cast the RS4 as a deadly spider, devouring other cars: we were briefed to extend the TV ad into a digital brand experience to engage the target audience and increase the time they spent with the campaign.

We wanted to use the aggressive, menacing personality of the TV ad, but we had to be true to Audi’s sophisticated, intelligent image. So, in line with the predatory nature of the RS4, we developed the style of previous TV ads to create a tone which we described as “Sinister Beauty”. We then extended Sinister Beauty across the whole digital realm, including a website, online advertising, Transvision screens, and mobile, PSP, iPod and iTV content.

It was Audi’s most successful iTV experience at that time.

See Beneath, a sinister short film

From podcasts to PSP – download Audi Podcast

How long before you get eaten?

Chris Hawken, Brand Communications Manager at Audi comments: “Using a vast number of digital communications channels is a first for Audi, and this strategy fits perfectly with the brand proposition of the new RS4 – high performance and true ‘Vorsprung durch Technik.”

See the RS4 campaign showreel.

Awards:

RS4 campaign was a 2006 Cyber Lion Finalist – Interactive Campaign

2006 FINALISTs London International Awards – Interactive Media

For 25 years Audi have made quattro for their cars, and now they’ve made the car for quattro – the Audi Q7.

Our task was to encourage potential buyers to book a test drive, by creating a highly engaging Q7 brand experience. The potential buyers were all people from Audi’s database who had expressed an interest in Q7 in the past.

360 exterior view of car

We created the Audi Q7 CD-ROM. This was a first for Audi.

The CD-ROM is personalised for each and offers users an engaging and interactive experience, telling you everything you need to know about the new car. It offers rich interactive zones both inside and outside of the car: you can navigate around a 3D version of the Q7, with key product features highlighted. It also features content from Audi Channel; downloads for your mobile phone and computer and the opportunity to find out more about Audi.

Once you’re inspired enough to book a test drive, there’s no need to fill out any boring data capture forms. If you’re already online, all you need to do is click a button and it’s booked. If you’re not online, you’re asked to connect to book and to experience the full impact of the CD-ROM.

The added benefit for Audi is that this piece of work is entirely trackable. We’re not just measuring test drive requests and click-throughs to the website, but also tracking how people interact with each section (i.e. what content is most compelling), and how long they spend in each area.

360 hotspot detail

360 interior view of car

Mobile brochure download

The current Audi website was designed three years ago, and needed a “facelift” to give it a fresher look and feel, with copy and imagery that was more appropriate for the UK market and which gave a richer representation of the brand.

Consumers had told Audi that they wanted more imagery, so it was also an excellent opportunity to display content in a more compelling way and deliver a site that was more engaging and easier to use. At the same time, the site needed to be integrated into a new content management system (CMS).

The challenge was to keep visitors engaged for longer, and encourage them to explore the site further, wherever they were in the buying process. The site also had to inspire new users, by creating a richer experience.

Home page

The response

First of all, we created a set of guidelines for Audi, defining Audi UK’s brand personality, tone of voice and look and feel.

Much of the site text was completely rewritten and transformed into powerful, punchy copy that reflected Audi’s brand personality.

Meanwhile, the layout meant that we had a lot more space to display beautiful brand imagery. This was refreshed to bring it into line with Audi’s UK brand style – reflecting the brand values of progressive, sophisticated and sporty.

We simplified the navigation for the site and made it quicker and easier to use, with useful features such as a comparator tool, a configurator tool and a new 360° exterior view. We also gave the product range page a better overview of the models, with direct links to those model pages, so visitors could find exactly what they wanted as quickly as possible.

Comparison tool

The results

The refreshed site now reflects Audi’s UK brand image – it looks, feels and sounds distinctively Audi. Following some intensive testing, overall user satisfaction improved by 10% across the whole experience. The site’s aesthetics and brand image were noted as particular strengths, and users are now especially happy with the comprehensive, up-to-date information and the search function.

“The Audi site is an immersive brand experience, which successfully fulfills its role to the point where over half of Audi buyers say their decision was positively influenced by the website.” Digit magazine July 2004.

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