Automobile Marketing Strategies
‘L
uxury is not meant to
be marketed online’
The age-old marketing cliché is swiftly
diminishing as the
world’s best known luxury cars try to
win the hearts of customers through
digital media. From facebook to twitter,
YouTube to specially customized apps,
luxury car brands are leaving no stone
unturned to get the Indian customers
on their side.
Social media are hard to get right,
but they are one of the most rewarding.
It starts with assembling the right team.
Interacting on social media requires
a level of knowledge and customer service that accords with the core values
of the brand.
For the vast majority of brands digital
marketing presents an opportunity to
generate better sales by reaching to a
wider section of the audience. Ardour to
use digital media by luxury car brands
is to gain the expected reach with the
economic benefits of the medium over
the conventional marketing strategies.
One of the advantages of digital
media is that it generates data, enabling
analytics that were previously impossible. It is more measurable than the other
forms of the media. Apart from providing
a huge reach, digital media is about
creating engagement, understanding
customers and building relationship with
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the target audience.
German luxury car
manufacturer Audi is
one of the firm believers in new media and
has recently executed a
digital-only campaign for its
new car, with teasers and a
video press release.
Audi announced the
launch of its sedan A6 Matrix
in a digitized fashion. A video,
featuring Joe King, head, Audi
India, was shared by the brand
on social media platforms to announce
the launch. Further, the video press
release was sent out to the publications. The brand also introduced the
pre-event teaser campaign on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to stir up the
curiosity among its fans.
The video explains the sleek features
of the car along with a virtual preview.
Joe King is seen introducing the car
as the next chapter by saying, ‘it just
knows’. The same hash-tag was also
promoted on social media websites.
Audi is not the only one looking to
drive sales through digital platforms.
Luxury car brand Mercedes Benz had
developed an iPad-based tool called
iSales, which showcases features of the
car through videos, images and even
financial options. It had been instrumental in aiding sales to tech-savvy customers, who are on the move.
Apart from marketing their car as
unique, brands are also using the
online forum to build loyalty with the
fickle customers. Jaguar, for instance,
had developed the F-TYPE Mobile
App, which takes the viewer behind the
scenes to explain just how their luxury
car was created.