Brand Salience: How Audi Stood Out From the Crowd

The article "Differentiation or Salience" brought up a very interesting point when it comes to brand differentiation. In some industries, brand image and values don't actually differ much for mainstream competitors. The brands will often preach similar messages and tout the same features, but paradoxically some brands still have a much greater market share than others. According to the authors of this article, the main reason behind this is something called salience. 

Brand salience specifically refers to how a consumer feels about a brand. These positive feelings don't come from just competitive advantages or better prices, but also from an emotional differentiation too. The more strongly a person feels positively about a brand, the more salient that brand is considered toward that person. So the natural question is: how can a brand achieve salience among consumers within their market? One of the answers to that question is effective advertising. 

Advertising, when done right, can be truly memorable and keep a brand's name in the back of consumer's minds for a very long time. A perfect example of this was Audi's 2016 Superbowl commercial (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB8tgVqmKzw). The commercial is not only an Audi advertisement but a tribute to the late singer/songwriter David Bowie, a beloved global icon. The commercial deviates from Audi's typical commercials that highlight Audi's superior sport car features while retaining the comfort and image of a luxury car. It inspires adventure, as evidenced from the former space explorer feeling alive again when viewing the Audi (as "Starman" fittingly plays in the background). The execution is dramatically brilliant, and the ad as a whole is a moving one that inspires the freedom of adventure while honoring the celebrity who embodied this quality more than any other. Judging from the millions of views and top comments on Youtube, people absolutely loved it, with many going as far to say it gave them the chills. 

This is a perfect example of achieving brand salience. The commercials that hype of car performance mostly don't last in the memory, but it's safe to say this commercial will. It gives Audi an extra feather in its cap when it comes to its overall image, conveying a sense of freedom and artistry that other luxury sports cars don't have. As consumers are impacted by the commercial, Audi very well may reap the rewards of increased market share, despite not really changing its overall positioning strategy in the long run. This is the power of utilizing brand salience.