In South Africa, there are several things to consider when producing branded entertainment. First being how digital budgets are substantially smaller than international ones, so you have to be smart about what you do. Secondly, very little original work is produced for luxury automotive brands, most adapt global work for their market. This is also caused by lack of budget. In addition, if any original work is produced the brand has to declare its association to the work overtly. Furthermore, no competitive advertising is allowed, meaning that as Audi, we need to launch and advertise our cars based on their merits and not the demerits of say BMW or Mercedes.

The creative idea showed how desirable the Audi A3 Sportback was compared to competitors. The twitter entry mechanic itself grew Audi South Africa’s Twitter following and engagement levels. It created word-of-mouth exposure and allowed Audi to stand out from its competitors boldly. Everything from the entry process to the actual Exchange highlighted the prominent features of the car. Every entry showed interest in the car and was treated as a lead, which allowed us to push test drives, and ultimately sales. Overall, it was a ‘Vorsprung’ way to launch a car in South Africa.

Within the 3-week campaign period, 11 310 people responded and entered the #AudiA3Exchange each representing a potential lead. The campaign generated 50,437 tweets, increased Audi South Africa’s Twitter following by 68% and tripled traffic to the A3 model page. This resulted in over 400 test drives during the campaign period and we exceeded our sales target of 1,800 cars by 22%. This resulted in an impressive ROI of 3.75:1.