LOGO SWITCH

TitleLOGO SWITCH
BrandAUDI
Product/ServiceAUDI
Category B05. Use of Broadcast
Entrant AKESTAM HOLST NOA Stockholm, SWEDEN
Idea Creation AKESTAM HOLST NOA Stockholm, SWEDEN
Media Placement PHD Stockholm, SWEDEN
PR AKESTAM HOLST NOA Stockholm, SWEDEN
Production AKESTAM HOLST NOA Stockholm, SWEDEN
Credits
Name Company Position
Rickard Beskow Åkestam Holst NoA Copywriter
Michal Sitkiewicz Åkestam Holst NoA Art Director
Eva Wallmark Åkestam Holst NoA Art Director
Jennie Strinnhed Åkestam Holst NoA Account Manager
Simon Stefansson Åkestam Holst NoA Planner
Magnus Jakobsson Åkestam Holst NoA Creative Director
Alex Picha Åkestam Holst NoA Digital producer
Shirin Hirmand Åkestam Holst NoA Account Director
Olov Öqvist Åkestam Holst NoA Graphic Designer
Henrik Adenskog Åkestam Holst NoA Producer
Nisse Axman Åkestam Holst NoA DP Director
Eric Karlsson Åkestam Holst NoA B Photo

The Campaign

To create awareness that Audi is the winter-brand for Swedes we hijacked the World Ski Championship, the biggest alpine event of the year. As one of the sponsors Audi was allowed to have their logo on the skiers’ racing suits. We decided to use this 5x20 centimetre small space in a new innovative way. Instead of displaying Audi’s logo we replaced it with a secret license plate number. We then launched a competition. The first one who managed to spot the number on live TV and share it on social media with #AudiLogoSwitch would win the skiers Audi. But… we didn’t tell anyone during what race the number would appear or on which skier. This kept fans glued to the live-broadcasts day after day, looking at Audi’s logo on the skier's arm during all the races in order to be the first one to spot and share the number.

Creative Execution

We produced a custom made racing suit 6 month prior to the World Ski Championship where we replaced Audi’s logo with the secret license plate number. This suit was kept secret, even the skier who would wear it during a race didn’t know what the number was. We then launched the competition Audi Logo Switch on the same day as the opening ceremony of the championship. We ran TV ads, online videos and posts on social media. During the 13 day long championship we kept the conversation going on social media by providing clues of when the secret license plate number might appear. This created a huge interest and people kept looking on Audi’s logo during all the races as they were searching for the number. We kept the interest by waiting until the second last day before the number appeared on a skier’s arm during the live broadcast.

Results

2.793.000 people followed the event and the live broadcast (over a quarter of Sweden’s population) and the winning post was shared in less than 3 seconds! Just hours after the race, all major news sport sites in Sweden highlighted the event. The way we activated the fans by using the broadcast that they already were watching was highly appreciated and the campaign became the most liked campaign in Audi Sweden’s history. People who see Audi as an innovative car brand increased, +51%, and we increase the perception that Audi’s all wheel drive is the best choice during winter, +144%. And the willingness to pay increased by 44% among those that observed the campaign. All by being smart with a 5 x 20 centimetre sponsor spot!

By using a 5x20 centimetre small area we managed to create a direct response with potential car buyers during the biggest alpine event of the year. This interactive competition was a new way of using a live broadcast and social media platforms to build the relationship between Audi and the potential car buyers as they could interact with the brand while they were watching the races at home.

A good car for winter conditions has many aspirational moments; having an active lifestyle during winter is high status in Sweden. Skiing is a national sport in Sweden that has high interest. Being influential within the skiing community would both create a big reach and audience as well as put the brand within the right area. Audi had been a long-term sponsor of alpine racing but hadn’t done any activation for a while. The events are crammed with advertising. Yet we realized that this was a great opportunity to reach a valuable target group when they had full attention on the live broadcast through their mobile phones, iPads and TV screens. And of course the focus was on the skiers, that was why we decided to let them be the media. By creating value for the viewers we could leverage the huge interest, which spilled over to the Audi brand.