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Friday, June 12, 2015

Audi Vs BMW Ad Wars: When Tension Escalated!

Hi Friends!

The two brand's advertisement war I am going to highlight needs no mention. As mentioned in the title of the blog,, they are Audi and BMW!
They both are German and love to take a dig at each other. But things becomes interesting as they try to exploit new marketing channels, be more creative and spend hell lot of money on advertising.

The billboard fight started  in Los Angeles, CA, somewhere in April 2009, when Audi used a unique way of advertising their Audi A4



But this billboard soon changed to a snide remark of challenging BMW, "Your move,BMW".


Well a response from the big guy (BMW) did come. They set up a billboard directly across the street. It featured new BMW M3 with a simple tag "Checkmate." I am unsure if the billboard was put-up by BMW or not, nonetheless, it was able to attract attention.





Now, from here on, I have read 2 versions of the story and I really don't know which one is correct, but both are funny, so let me share them with you!

Version 1:

Audi, took this ad war to its aficionados on facebook. They were allowed to photoshop the images and come up with something to response.
[Marketing gyaan: When in peril, ask your supporters to stand for you. This way you catch the imagination of your supporters !]

So some responses which were put as a response to BMW were:



Or this cheeky one:




Finally, Audi responded with its stunning Audi R8 billboard, with its caption stating, "Time to check your luxury badge. It may have expired."

BMW did not respond and its billboard was moved from this location. Thus we come to this version of the story in which Audi kind of Won!

Lets find out the other version of the story (do I need to tell you who can be the winner in this case, keep guessing and read on!)

Version 2

So in response to "Checkmate" by BMW, Audi came up with punchline


I can imagine you guys smiling at this response, well, you should be, not only were they able to show their product, but the punchline was bang on target.

Now, it's BMW's move! 50 points to reader who can come up with a creative and innovative response [share it on the comments section below]

&

the

response

was


He he, I don't think many of you could foresee this response!

And this concludes the second version of the story.

So, again, what did we learn here:
1. Billboards are very powerful communication messages
2. Social media campaigns are the easiest and fastest means to elicit responses from your fan-following
3. Creativity and innovation in any campaign or ad war can win you hearts
4. When you competitor is big spender on marketing, you too will have to
5. There's no shying away in marketing!

Rest is next.

Regards
Vipul

[Please do express your opinions in the comments section]