Brilliant move by a local BMW dealer in responding to a national Audi ad. Audi’s 2009 A4 ad on the left side of the street says “Your move, BMW.” Santa Monica BMW comes back with an M3 ad across the street that says “Checkmate.” Now that’s advertising.
What do you do if you’re Audi?
JD
on 15 Apr 09Benjy
on 15 Apr 09I saw that yesterday… thought it was great!
Perhaps Audi can put up a new one with an RS8 with a tag line like, “When you’re through with all the games…”
Adnan from Car Throttle
on 15 Apr 09Yeh – a really smart advert (we covered it on CarThrottle too).
Have any of you seen Subaru and then Bentley’s response to all of this? Hilarious!
Daniel
on 15 Apr 09That is awesome! Brilliant, brilliant idea.
And a lot better than those tired Burma-Shave jokes :-)
If I were Audi, I’d probably listen to Benjy (above) and use the RS8. But’s it’s really hard not to sound like a sore loser.
SuatE
on 15 Apr 09That is awesome! Brilliant, brilliant idea.
And a lot better than those tired Burma-Shave jokes :-)
If I were Audi, I’d probably listen to Benjy (above) and use the RS8 . But’s it’s really hard not to sound like a sore loser.
Martin Ringlein
on 15 Apr 09Absolutely brilliant. I love how they really used the design to get their point across—doing the reserve design and getting the whole black/white chess symbolism in there.
Joshua Blankenship
on 15 Apr 09Finally, smart advertising that isn’t aimed at 20-something college guys.
Daniel
on 15 Apr 09@Adnan from Car Throttle: Seriously?! Is that a real ad? If so, kudos to Bentley for going to print with it – it’s hilarious.
You know that’s what Bentley owners are doing anyway, when they see non-Bentley owners anywhere (not that I admire Bentleys myself – I’d rather have the M3 or RS8. Or an Aston-Martin Vanquish, if I’m feeling picky)
Mark
on 15 Apr 09Well played BMW!
moxiemk1
on 15 Apr 09As of yet, the RS8 isn’t out. So, they can’t really bring it to a fight of released cars.
Now, the R8, that’s quite enough without bringing out the big guns to shut BMW up, methinks.
Daniel
on 15 Apr 09@SuatE: Hmmm… I’ve got this feeling that I’ve seen that exact comment before. I’ve written it, even. Right down to the typo in the last sentence. But hey, feel free to quote me – I think my comments are pure gold.
Or maybe the SvN blog has something like a race condition bug somewhere…
Brad
on 15 Apr 09Audi next move should be straight out of layer tennis, remix the bmw ad
Dustin
on 15 Apr 09very nice :) love it
Adam
on 15 Apr 09The difference between the two cars is negligible for the average driver. The RS4 still a shade slower ‘round the Nürburgring than the M3, though, so I’d be kicking myself for having put the ad up in the first place.
Glen Barnes
on 15 Apr 09What do you do if you’re Audi? Switch to Checkers?
eric
on 15 Apr 09Audi Response: “Best out of three?”
(maybe not their best choice…)
Daniel Haran
on 15 Apr 09Wait, Audi showed off a $42,850.00 car (MSRP), and BMW countered with one costing $66,500.00?
If the ad was there to get people to see those two cars as comparable, BMW just re-inforced that framing. The Checkmate ad is hilarious, but will it result in more cars sold, or will it help Audi more?
Peregrine Solus
on 15 Apr 09Yep, they definitely got me; I always base my purchases of high-ticket items on how cleverly the dealers place their billboards.
Happy
on 15 Apr 09Audi’s agency’s next move should be something like – Since when is chess any fun?- Position BMW as the snobby, boring choice. Audi as the exciting choice.
Something like: ‘You’re Move’, when most guys here it: [photo collage of rock climber, couple on a date, basketball action, etc]
‘You’re Move’ when BMW hears it:
Happy
on 15 Apr 09Audi’s agency’s next move should be something like – Since when is chess any fun?- Position BMW as the snobby, boring choice. Audi as the exciting choice.
Something like: ‘Your Move’, when most guys here it: [photo collage of rock climber, couple on a date, basketball action, etc]
‘Your Move’ when BMW hears it: dull, grey, boring photo of lonely chess pawn.
Happy
on 15 Apr 09[Damn my grammar, sorry]
Audi’s agency’s next move should be something like – Since when is chess any fun?- Position BMW as the snobby, boring choice. Audi as the exciting choice.
Something like:
“‘Your Move’, when most guys hear it: [photo collage of rock climber, couple on a date, basketball action, etc]”
“‘Your Move’ when BMW hears it: dull, grey, boring photo of lonely chess pawn.”
nick
on 16 Apr 09checkmate indeed.
Nate Berkopec
on 16 Apr 09Wow. Owned.
Guessing Audi should take down the ad and call it a day, eh?
bob
on 16 Apr 09“Wrong game. King me.”
Mike Riley
on 16 Apr 09I really enjoy the color contrast, same as in chess, black vs white :)
IW
on 16 Apr 09Coffee Bean must be happy. They didn’t even have to do anything to get themselves into the foray.
Ari Rochmann
on 16 Apr 09@Mike Riley
I wonder if the advertising department at Santa Monica BMW thought it through at that level, or whether it was a happy coincidence.
Austin
on 16 Apr 09Enough with the nerdy games. Let’s go driving.
Happy
on 16 Apr 09Austin’s got it!
Jimmy Chan
on 16 Apr 09Audi: “Wrong password, try again..”
booo
on 16 Apr 09booo bmw shit… audi is the best :]
Quintijn Knepper
on 16 Apr 09Great ad, great car! I can tell!
Milo
on 16 Apr 09The car is inconsequential, even if BMW was selling a lawnmower, the day is theirs!
Perfectly executed in terms of colour, shape and the dimensions of the signboard too.
tracto
on 16 Apr 09now, children’s game is finish ;) take time to enjoy with a real car:
audi R8 pict
tracto
on 16 Apr 09or: ” if you’re fed up play with your king ‘pict of MSRP let it and drive a queen : pict of audi R8 “
Ivan Kirigin
on 16 Apr 09You come back with a better game that closer models the markets, make a reference to moving fast, and insult their intelligence.
You say: “We play GO!”
Didrik Nordström
on 16 Apr 09klockrent :D
Evan
on 16 Apr 09As much as I like Audi, I gotta say: owned. There’s no response to “checkmate.”
ratchetcat
on 16 Apr 09Both dealerships are selling luxury cars during a recession/depression.
They’re both owned.
joey
on 16 Apr 09this is awesome!
charly
on 16 Apr 09no response to checkmate, just start a new campain and forget the old one.
Joe M
on 16 Apr 09Next Play for Audi… Billboard with R8 higher up on the hill… “Come on up when you’re ready to play with the big boys”.
Lonnie
on 16 Apr 09Response Small crowd/group all looking left at what is recognizable as a portion of an Audi…no message…simply a representation of BMW being disregarded.
Jay Belknap
on 16 Apr 09Flawless victory.
Akai
on 16 Apr 09Maybe something Akin to Happy’s response.
“how about a new game…Le Mans”
Talk about the 8 time winning R8, 3 time winning R10, and then have a picture of the new R15.
r15 for reference…in the middle
Luke
on 16 Apr 09I had two thoughts both based around the use of the ending ‘mate’ in order to change the ‘game’ and make BMW’s ad appear out of touch or otherwise dull:
Ultimate – matched with the RS8 I suppose despite it not being released yet, or just a shot of the car doing something a little wild
Playmate – matched with a Heffner-esque guy in a robe lustfully gazing at the Audi or something similar to that (rather than having women be the object of his affection and distracting from the car)
Bryan
on 16 Apr 09Audi’s next move should be to bench their ad agency for that hanging curve that BMW just smacked out of the park.
jbjur
on 16 Apr 09Learning the rules is easy. Playing by the shouldn’t be. Chess. Bored. The new Audi A4
Ryan
on 16 Apr 09For what it’s worth, there isn’t going to be an RS8, rather the official name is R8 V10.
Gerrit
on 16 Apr 09What an absurd discussion!... The ads are funny unquestionable, but the game isn’t fair. Don’t compare BMW’s topmodel against a standard wagon of Audi.. that sucks. What if Audi showed the R8 V10.. BMW doesn’t even has something in that class and price range. Don’t get me wrong, I like both cars but the comparison is just lame.
Milo
on 16 Apr 09What a masterstroke by BMW, there’s no recovery from that. Audi’s tail has been stapled between their legs from where I’m sitting.
Curt
on 16 Apr 09Audi should run a counter “Game Changer” or change semantic context. “Attracts the most beautiful mates”
art
on 16 Apr 09Gerrit, what the x%x*# are you talking about? The car audi shows is an A4 and the BMW is a 3 series. They are in the SAME class.
John
on 16 Apr 09Audi got owned. Take down the ad. Even with a clever come back, BMW showed brilliance by doing what they did and Audi can’t recover well from that.
Ryan Ripley
on 16 Apr 09Personally, I think it would be cool if the Audi dealership put up a sign that said, “Well played.” They lost this round. May as well gracefully admit it and get ready for the next one.
Deb S
on 16 Apr 09Tactical marketing at its best! Priceless!
Bob Polan
on 16 Apr 09Going out to sell some advertising now. You folks are inspireing. Is that spelled right?
Dan
on 16 Apr 09If you ask me, BMW have played right into Audi’s hands here. The intent of the original poster is to get potential BMW buyers to consider an Audi as a viable alternative, yes? Just by the act of responding to the challenge BMW are validating that proposition. It doesn’t matter that they claim victory in the wording of the poster; what matters to consumers is that by even taking up the challenge BMW is unintentionally raising Audi up to their level: what this poster really communicates is ‘rather than brush off such a pathetic challenge from an inferior competitor, we’re actually a bit scared they might be as good as us’. Not such a victory if you ask me.
katie
on 16 Apr 09That’s awesome! We just got goosebumps.
Martin Kulakowski
on 16 Apr 09Audi’s next move (img)
Ryan Ripley
on 16 Apr 09@DAN: You are pretending that people put that much thought into billboards… To 99% of the general population it will look like BMW bitch-smacked Audi…
BTW: I’m an Audi fan, and hate BMW’s…
Chance
on 16 Apr 09I hope Audi hears about this and responds. They would both benefit from the back and forth. At least it would add a smile to some faces passing by everyday. More than you can say for the American car companies.
Hyundai
on 16 Apr 09They both suck and why do Audi drivers never use the turn signal?
Don Schenck
on 16 Apr 09Time for Cadillac to put up an ad with the CTS-V and something along the lines of “We don’t play games”.
MatG
on 16 Apr 09What they need to do is this; Have those cars side by side- with their respective prices scribed onto the wind shields. And have,
Game Over.
TheStory
on 16 Apr 09You hire a local artist to sabotage the BMW billboard and do something creative to put Audi back in the game… CHECKMATE!
Moe
on 16 Apr 09I would put the bold Audi S4 Quattro 2009 and say “come get me”.
Christine
on 16 Apr 09How do you keep someone in check? Audi needs to change the game – your move doesn’t have to be about chess.
christefano
on 16 Apr 09If I were Audi, I’d find some test or metric to support a response like, “Beats BMW, two out of three, every time.” Or switch from chess to go.
@Joshua Blankenship: You’re right. This targets 16-something college guys.
Dave
on 16 Apr 09I agree with Dan – they should have taken more of a Bentley approach
smurf
on 16 Apr 09only dweebs drive BMW’s
Don Schenck
on 16 Apr 09@smurf: how are those grapes? ... a bit sour??
I drove a 2002 in high school back in 1975. Yeah, an epic car.
JF
on 16 Apr 09Time for Cadillac to put up an ad with the CTS -V and something along the lines of “We don’t play games”.
Great call, Don. This is an opportunity for another brand to drop in.
Jimmy Chan
on 17 Apr 09I thought this topic about Audi will do, not Cadillac..
Simply, Audi put down those “your move” ad. People will confuse what BMW are talking about.. Checkmate? Are BMW will finished their product lines? BMW kill themself
Film Michigan
on 17 Apr 09This is from my friends at a company called Juggernaut Advertising
http://www.juggernautadvertising.com
Film Michigan http://tinyurl.com/filmmichigan
Pavel Pichardo
on 17 Apr 09@Milo, your totally right.
@bob “Wrong game. King me.” ... good answer.
Billy
on 17 Apr 09Americans shouldn’t buy this import crap, buy GM, Ford or Chrysler.
Adam
on 17 Apr 09These Ads are so refreshing. Great advertising teams at work.
@Billy I’ll buy a Domestic POS when they decide to ditch the unions, and step up their game. Oh, and learn how to design.
Milo
on 17 Apr 09Billy, I’m British so our long-running quarrel with the Germans is well known to say the least. But it has to be said that German cars are the best in the world, with no exception. Well, our own Aston Martins, Bentleys and Rolls Royces give a decent account of themselves.
Scratch that, we here in Britain make the best cars. Argue with that.
Allen
on 17 Apr 09Volkswagen AG owns Bentley, and Audi, Ford owned Aston Martin and BMW owns Rolls Royce.
Michael
on 17 Apr 09@Akai: “how about a new game…Le Mans”
BMW will counter with their Formula 1 car, an even bigger boy’s game that Audi isn’t in.
@Gerrit:
The M3 is not BMW’s top-most model. They still have the M5, M6, etc. which compare against higher end Audis.
This is great advertising. I’m a die-hard BMW guy (own 1 now, have had 5, frequently auto-x and track day driver) but I have no ill will towards Audi. Or Porsche. I’d gladly drive any of them, or even a Mercedes (AMG only) ;)
Fred Simmons
on 17 Apr 09Calvin peeing on a BMW logo. Obviously!
Alex
on 17 Apr 09Awesome! Nice find
ariel Seidman
on 17 Apr 09The other way to look at this is that Audi accomplished what they wanted - they reeled BMW into a conversation/debate.
Steve Patti
on 17 Apr 09Audi’s might think about a more direct ad strategy such as:
“Hey BMW, when it comes to ALMS victories—who’s your daddy?”
jaya
on 18 Apr 09” A BOARD GAME -CHECKMATE ” LOOK WHO IS RUNNING THE SHOW!!!!!
Peter Hawkins
on 18 Apr 09Brilliant strategy by bmw. If the Bently ad is true, that really is a phenominal show of balls. Agree with a few here that audi should put up the R8 and say ‘We’re not playing games anymore!’
ian
on 18 Apr 09Audi response: Anything that keeps BMW playing back and forth with them. They control the conversation now.
That said the response is brilliant. Both brands will benefit.
Kurtosis
on 18 Apr 09Audi response (new sign): Well played, BMW. Double or nothing?
picture: R8
Melvin Ram
on 18 Apr 09Tesla: Grandma & Grandpa, I’m home.
But I doubt that they want to piss off BMW & Audi just yet.
Jim Luning
on 18 Apr 09Alexander Roy and M5 is all I’m sayin…
Kevin Halliburton
on 18 Apr 09Audi’s next billboard should counter with two checks, one written out to the Audi dealer for the cost of the Audi and the other written out to a BMW dealer for the cost of the Beamer. Caption?
“Yea, we got your check, Mate.”
List the features side-by-side with a big red check-mark and write “check” next to Audi’s name on each one.
By the way Audi, change jar’s on the piano if you’re so inclined – Thanks, Kevin
faceless technologies
on 18 Apr 09love the conversation. great ideas from many. love the idea of a competitor to enter the arena and own it all. (cadilac concept stated above) and the fact that as stated above, maybe audi just wanted a response from anyone who felt threatened by the consumer market that is buying their vehicles. BMW responded, showing their concern or equality on some level of the playing field. Got to love when people are talking/blogging/chatting/posting about the marketing ideas a company puts out. classic.
www.twitter.com/WeAreMarketing
Saud
on 19 Apr 09well… I think adding going with the cars isn’t that effective. personally, I like A4 more than 3-series but M3 is better for sure. audi is targeting 3-series excluding the M3.
anyway, I think in this case, just putting a price tag on top of A4 will do ;)
Michael Reinhart
on 19 Apr 09“I’ll see your M3 and raise you an R8 V10.”
Anonymous Coward
on 19 Apr 09You must admit, the Audi people should have seen that coming. I mean, come on. I would have said that on my billboard.
Rahul
on 20 Apr 09Just remove ‘your move’!
Anonymous Coward
on 20 Apr 09@Kevin Halliburton, bloody brilliant!
Carrie Brancheau
on 20 Apr 09Love BMW’s billboard. Kevin Halliburton, very clever!
Carrie Brancheau
on 20 Apr 09Love, BMW billboard and Kevin Halliburton’s idea is very clever!
IE
on 21 Apr 09You could always have Mercedes crash the party with a “Come on kids, off to bed…” jab.
Or, and do pardon my slightly objectionable humour, Jaguar could go nuts and scrawl “Oi, silly buggers – no more ‘o them war-games in the former colonies yeah! Don’t make me come over there…” or suchlike.
The best though, trust me on this, would be Bentley again flippin’ birds both ways!
Muhahaha
C18
on 21 Apr 09Lexus ISF:
“Shogi anyone?”
C18
on 21 Apr 09Alfa Romeo Brera GTA:
(Printed on this picture here.)
“Not bad.”
“Still…”
Matt
on 22 Apr 09“Mind if I play through?” with an image of a chessboard knocked over, back of the audi in the bg.
This discussion is closed.