NMA: Audi to boost mobile ad spend as tablet traffic hits double figures
14/11/2011Audi is to significantly raise its mobile ad spend next year after its recent HTML5-powered campaign saw traffic to its mobile site double in three weeks.
Speaking to new media age, Hugh Fletcher, Audi’s national digital marketing manager, said smartphones generate 7.5% of the brand’s online traffic and that tablet devices account for 10.5%.
Audi is not publicly disclosing break out percentages of its online spend or planned executions but Fletcher did note that the brand was interested in targeting campaigns based around relevant events, such as automotive meet ups.
The move marks a significant shift in Audi’s digital spend because the car manufacturer had previously deemed mobile as a suitable channel for direct-response advertising, according to Fletcher.
The company now plans to launch ads using the HTML5 web code in a bid to produce rich-media campaigns that will match the quality of its other on- and offline executions, according to Fletcher.
“There was a nervousness [within Audi] that mobile couldn’t deliver a premium experience but that’s changing,” he said. “As mobile handsets [both tablets and smartphones] become the default browsing devices, we move [advertising budget] there.”
The company also plans to launch further mobile apps with its mobile agency Somo, which is headed by digital industry veteran Nick Hynes, after its augmented reality (AR) powered app for Le Mans race won popular acclaim.
“We’re also interested in looking at AR apps, especially for tablets as this matches the premium branding associated with Audi,” he said.
The German manufacturer’s recent Audi A6 Avant campaign was accompanied by a bird-shaped rich media banner ad, animated by HTML5 technology (see video below), linking to its mobile site.
Source: Somo YouTube channel
The campaign generated 23,000 CTR
The display ads ran across The Sun, Independent and Telegraph and PistonHeads mobile sites between 10 and 31 October as part of Audi’s cross-platform campaign.
The mobile element, which was optimised to run across various mobile platforms, eventually generated a click through rate of 1.76%.
“The number of visits to the site doubled over the course of the campaign, which has been good for data capture,” said Fletcher.
Speaking about the mobile execution of the Avant A6 campaign, Maani Safa, Somo’s product director, said the iPhone’s inability to run Flash has slowed the production of high-quality, realistic animation for this platform.
“HTML5 overcomes these issues and we are excited to be among the first to pioneer its use in our most recent work for Audi,” he said.
