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Audi drives Hawthorn sponsorship with Greatness Never Rests rooftop football ad

Audi is taking its AFL sponsorship beyond the field

Audi is taking its AFL sponsorship beyond the field

Audi has backed its sponsorship of AFL team Hawthorn with a TV campaign featuring the team’s star players in a high-tech kicking competition on the rooftop of city buildings.

Audi managing director Andrew Doyle admitted the company had some initial concerns about taking the brand into a sport already well represented by rival auto makers such as VW, Ford and Toyota, but saw the alignment with Hawthorn as the coming together of two premium brands.

He said that rather than just rely on the traditional signage and hospitality elements of sponsorship, he wanted to take the partnership further by creating content that would engage people who were not necessarily fans of the code.

At the same time, he said it was an opportunity to build the profile of Audi in the Victorian market.

The ad, created by 303 Mullen Lowe, runs with the tagline: ‘Greatness Never Rests’.

“In 2014 we undertook a total review of our sponsorship portfolio and we wanted to make sure we were in line with our aspirations to become the number one premium brand by 2020,” Doyle told Mumbrella.

“From a national portfolio there were a number that came up but AFL in particular was quite highly rated in terms of reach across Australia.”

General manager – marketing, Kevin Goult, said the TV ad would be supported with a social push and a number of other content pieces were currently being created.

“It was about creating a more engaging piece which made us think about doing something more extreme,” Goult said.

“On one hand the success measure of the KPI will be people talking about ‘have you seen the guys kicking the ball from roof to roof with Audi?’ and all of a sudden we start to hook people, they will see the creative and they will see the content piece. Number two is to get people on board who aren’t necessarily engaging with the sport and get them to understand.”

Goult said the aim of the campaign was to get people to recognise Audio through a sports sub-brand.

Credits:

  • Client – Audi Australia
  • General Manager Marketing – Kevin Goult
  • Marketing Communications Manager – Kit Bashford
  • Senior Brand Marketing Executive – Karlien McLeod
  • Agency – 303 MullenLowe
  • Executive Creative Director – Richard Morgan
  • Chief Strategy Officer – Jon McKie
  • Head of Art – Adam Whitehead
  • Head of Copy – Sean Larkin
  • Head of TV – Sean Ascroft
  • Group Business Director – Georgie McGarr
  • Business Director – Laura Dewey
  • Business Executive – Jen Wood
  • Production Company – The Sweet Shop
  • Director – Noah Marshall
  • Producer – Tony Whyman
  • Post Production – Jon Baxter
  • Editor – Tim Mauger
  • Music/FX – Rumble Studios

Simon Canning

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