Brand Repositioning and the Role of Advertising

For my brand project this semester, my biggest focus ended up being Audi's shift in positioning from marketing just to the power elite to also including younger, urban consumers. The Simmons data told a really interesting story about the shift in demographics toward this new demographic, with Audi's median age of 40 being one of the youngest on the American luxury car market. After researching Audi's brand messaging, it became obvious it was a conscious and successful effort to achieve this brand repositioning strategy. However, the manner in which Audi did it is pretty interesting to say the least.

It's no secret that one of the best ways to target younger consumers is to have an effective social media presence. Younger demographics are heavy users of this medium, and you would have thought that Audi probably forged a competitive advantage in order to help target affluent but young individuals. However, its social media usage is really conventional and not very differentiated from other competition, with the big focus simply being on the different models available and the highlighting of utilitarian features that make Audi a high-performance car. This can certainly be a safe but solid strategy, however it's not something that would likely turn a younger person's head. In fact, when viewing the social media metrics in the kodiak folder for Audi, their engagement is actually pretty underwhelming except for at one point: the Superbowl.

Audi has done a great job of launching high profile and captivating Superbowl advertisements that seem to resonate with younger viewers. Ads such as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdwWONi2FrI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diU_09jb4bI are Superbowl ads that caused a positive stir after being aired, injecting a sense of excitement and inspiration to the Audi brand that was previously not as present.

What I find really interesting about this approach is Audi actually used a classic (and some might even argue outdated) approach to try and connect with a younger audience that tends to be more receptive of newer wave, digitally focused marketing tactics. Audi's increasing sales and decreasing median age just go to show that classic strategies can still work on the younger consumers that many companies have struggled to reach; as long as the right message and right execution are demonstrated at the right time.

The Rise of Personal Services: B2B Included?

When doing one of the required readings for class, "The Changing Face of Marketing", one bullet point in the article really got me thinking about the evolution of the services market since the article was published in 1966. The bullet point noted that "There has been disproportionate growth in the market for personal services, including recreation, education, and travel. Depending on whose statistics you choose to believe, consumer services now account for 40 percent to 50 percent of all consumer purchases."

This caught my attention because of the knowledge from a previous marketing class that services now make up about 70% of total consumer purchases. While it's unclear when the trend started upward in the very beginning, it's pretty clear that it continued long after the article was published. Of course, many services are of the B2C nature during the gradual rise. Consumers like to spend money on dining out , travelling, attending college, and countless other things. But one aspect of this trend that might get overlooked is the fact that companies are starting to offer new services to other companies too.

B2B services have seemingly always been around, with consultants and agencies helping other companies with specific areas that they excel at. However, companies are starting to get creative too. I interned for a company called Circles North America Group this past summer, a subsidiary of Sodexo. Circles is a B2B service provider that offers concierge services both in-person and remotely for employees of companies who decide to purchase its services. The concierge services help boost employee morale and productivity while greatly decreasing turnover, by fulfilling work orders received from employees. Concierge can run errands for employees, plan vacations, book concert tickets and much more upon request. In hospitals, concierge also helps the often overwhelmed nurses by taking care of many non-clinical issues that pop up, relieving work overload. The idea is that with concierge taking care of all the non-work related worries and distractions that may make employees less focused and productive, the employee will deliver better results and want to stay at the company longer.

This is a really creative B2B service operation that benefits both parties. Sodexo found a new way to increase its revenue, and companies that hire Circles have a more productive and stable workforce that helps those organizations improve themselves and further develop a positive reputation. Consumer services will always be available everywhere you look, but maybe more companies will take advantage of B2B service partnerships and drive the 70% figure up even more in the future.