|
|
| |
 |
|
| |
 |
| |
|
| |
Background
Alfa Romeo wanted to change the perception of
their brand. They wanted to be seen
as a premium brand (like Audi or BMW) and to move away from the notion
that their
cars are not well made and prone to rust. |
| |
|
| |
Creative |
|
 |
| |
To change a consumers’ perception
of the brand you cannot argue through messaging: to do so is likely
to raise their spectre; but you can engender a sense of progress through
behaviour. The target was the metropolitan elite. These individualistic
souls are attracted to the aesthetics of the brand and like to signal
their difference by owning a car that is ‘not a BMW’. Confidence
in the consumer comes from a combination of street visibility, driveway
visibility and word of mouth. Buying an Alfa (according to the client)
is a treat: “seductive muscular aesthetics are combined with
the self-indulgence of owning an authentic sporting marque”.
The creative was extremely important – a black and red palette
was developed and evolved to keep it fresh. Silver cars were featured,
as this is the visual language of elite marques like BMW, Mercedes
and Audi. However, the most important creative consideration reflected
Alfa’s media behaviour. |
|
| |
|
|
|
| |
Solution
Five years ago, Red Cell made the critical decision
to concentrate the spend mainly
on premium positions in selected press (notably The Sunday Times)
and aimed for
frequency across the year. This led to print taking 60% of Alfa Romeo’s
annual ad
spend (vs. 29% for TV), this was supplemented in London with heavy
poster activity.
These decisions, although not surprising, were considered bold and
were based on
shared beliefs with Alfa management about the importance of behaviour
for a
marque that aspires to be premium priced. The visual language used
in press and
the symbolic imagery in posters was considered more important than
any individual message. |
| |
|
|
|
| |
Outcome |
|
|
| |
 |
|
 |
| |
|
|
|
| |
These decisions, although made 5 years ago, have been stuck to
by Alfa Romeo in
the UK. The measure of success is Alfa’s ability to take share
from marques like BMW
and Audi, which has a significant impact on margins. Pan- European
source-of-business
analysis shows the UK is the market where Alfa does this best –
according to Red Cell.
Elsewhere the marque is seen as a trade-up from mass marques like
Ford, Peugeot and Fiat.
Other factors such as competitive set and culture are different
market by market, but the big difference in the UK is media behaviour.
|
| |
|
| |
Using MediaDNA to provide a Solution
As Julian finishes up by stating:
“These decisions were based on beliefs and good working
relationships,
rather than any research matching media brand values and marque
values
– and they look easy in retrospect. If we had access to the
work of the
mediaDNA consortium it would have given us greater confidence, because
we needed to justify our choice to head office. Investment
in media research puts media companies in a stronger position to
advise on big investments”.
This is a view that is shared by News International.
If you want to hear more about this or other
opportunities please call
Client Sales: 020 7782 7185 email: accountmanagement@newsint.co.uk
Source: Admap
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
