LPW 2027 – PROMOTIONAL WRITING

TRIMESTER 2, 2019/2020

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT:

PRINT ADVERTISEMENT CASE STUDY

Name ID

WARDAH SYAZWANI BINTI FARUK 1161104242

LECTURER NAME: Aznul Fazrin bin Sujak

Figure 1: Audi A1 print advertisement

In 2010, Audi came out with a new car model that other major prestige car has done
before; it launched a small car, the Audi A1. Collaborating with a global advertising agency,
Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH), they released a new advertisement campaign which includes a
print campaign as one of their marketing strategies. The print campaign for Audi A1 has 3
different versions which each of them focuses on different aspects of the car; the exterior
design, powerful engines and driver-oriented interior. The above print campaign is the
exterior design version. The print illustrated explain the details of the exterior design of the
new Audi A1 which the concept portrayed will be analysed further below.

The headline written in the print advertisement is “A Big Idea Condensed” which
depicts the ideas of a small car packs all the ideas of big cars but into a smaller version. The
phrase alone explain on the car concept as the selection of words are able to capture the
reader's attention and drive them to the illustrations. The type of headline used works hand-
in-hand with an image. Both elements work in conjunction in order to create a bigger impact
on the readers. In the print ad above, the headline is layout on top of the coloured image of

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the new Audi A1. Although the headline sounds straightforward, however when the phrase is
read, the image of the small red Audi A1 created a short but concise meaning which the
unique selling point (USP) is delivered in the one sentence. The keyword in the phrase is
“condensed” because it leads to reader to question of the concept which eventually will lead
them to read the whole print advertisement.

The next criteria is the message or copy of the print campaign, what is the selling
message portrayed in the advertisement. As mentioned above, the concept and the headline is
“A Big Idea Condensed” which directly explain the different concept of Audi A1 that differs
from the other Audi cars. The message of the headline or keyword is simple and direct
because as mentioned before, it simply depicts the USP of the Audi A1 but at the same time it
also appeal to the senses. In simple words, the message they want to deliver to the readers is
for them to know how the small car is built with the same quality of the big car ideas. They
are telling the readers that the reliability of the car does not have any difference compared to
the big cars, normal car size. As in the print above, it specifically focuses on the exterior
design of the car which play a big role as a car design is one of the factors that drive people to
make a purchase. Focusing on the design, the advertisement wants to deliver the quality of
each of the parts and illustrated it with pictures comparison and less wordings. Perhaps, the
comparison made would give readers the image Audi wants them to interpret and to create
desire and interest in the end product.

The direction of the creative ideas in this campaign is information dotted around the
graphics. As the targeted demographic of the Audi A1 is the young successful that can afford
to buy a luxurious brand, the graphics design helps the campaign to be a “less” boring, typical
and attractive in the eyes of the targeted customers. Each of the car parts is being compared to
something or elements that shows a similar representation. For instance, the headlight shape
is stated to be inspired by and eagle’s eyes. Near the headlights picture, the creative designer
put an image of an eagle to show the representation. In another meaning, it depicts that the
headlight is very keen, sharp, covers a large area and has high performance in terms of
quality. It tries to install the idea of the “eagle eye “in reader’s mind. Next, the roof contrast
line is being compared with the graphic on an umbrella in a red circle that points out the
different colour that the availability of different contrast colour offered for the roof. Besides,
the type of wheels is the 5-twin alloy wheels; it is as light as bicycle’s tiers. This means the
grips, the resistance, the lightweight are similar as if you are riding a bicycle. There is also

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endurance elements which the designer compared it with weathers example such as rainy
clouds, leave that represents windy day and also, snowflakes. In addition, there is an icon of
man pulling a luggage. The icon might hint on the convenient to drive the car for travelling
purposes.

Every company has their own image and it is portrayed in their very own signature.
The signature is one of the important elements to put in any type of advertisement in order to
promote and familiarise their brand in the business market. In this case, the signature of the
brand, Audi put in the advertisement is the logo and their slogan. The logo is located at the
upright corner while the slogan is positioned beside it. First, the role of the logo is to deliver
company’s message, conveys to the viewer the company's mission and values. It keeps the
company ever-present in the consumer's mind when it is easily recognized and used
consistently on all company advertising and communications. A logo may mean the
difference between a customer remembering your brand or forgetting it. In this case, even
without mentioning the Audi’s brand name, the image of four ceiling rings is enough to make
the reader recognize the brand as the logo itself has a good brand image and it will remind
them of the brand quality. Then, Audi’s official slogan; “vorsprung durch technik” which
means “Being Ahead through Technology” describes the brand’s mission and vision. Thus,
the logo and slogan associates in creating the brand image and deliver it to the public.

The advertisement certainly used the free vector design as the layout to organize the
information. This design is different compared to the straight type-setting. There are pieces of
bold information dotted around the graphics, styles, different sizes and weights. The
information is organized from the biggest to smallest graphics. It position the car wheel as the
biggest image and consequently followed by the other parts of the car until it reaches the end
product; the small image of Audi A1. This suits the concept of the car of condensed the big
idea car into a small car because the image of the car parts are illustrated in a big image but at
the end, the product is small. Other than that, the layout that focuses on each part explains
better on the process of creating the car. It gets deeper and is being transparency to the public.

Other elements that are important to be considered to create an attractive

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as the inner part of the car because the Audi A1 included in the advertisement is red in
colour, Therefore, the black colour indicates the insider or behind the car design. So, white
background is chosen as to contrast the color selection. However, the black colour might
seem boring and unattractive. Then, the typeface, overall is very simple. The headline’s letter
design is quite basic and it applies extra bold effect to the words while the type size is written
in smaller size as it the words sequence goes down. On the other hand, having small parts of
text in between the graphics leads the viewer to discover new things by looking closer and
longer, adding depth to the advertisement. In addition, the font used is sans serif fonts making
it feature no flourishes and emphasize readability and simplicity for a more scalable look.

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PART 2 : Critically Analyse (Audi vs BMW)

Figure 2: BMW X5 print advertisement

In comparison with the Audi A1 print advertisement, the following discussion will
stress on the differences of the advertisement contents of the Audi A1 and BMW X5
Dynamic xDrive. Bayerische Motoren Werke AG or commonly known as BMW is one of the
Audi’s competitors where both of the brands produce fantastic luxury cars. The print above is
the advertisement produced by BMW to promote their brand new car series; BMW X5. The
concept used are the “four little guardian angels”. This campaign is focusing on the car’s
strengths which it is positioned as comfortable and luxurious SUV equipped with latest
technologies.

The key message BMW wants to deliver is through the “little guardian angels”.
Generally, guardian angels means a spirit that is thought to watch over and protect a person
or place. So, the concept of “watching over” or “protect” is the keyword of this
advertisement. The headline is a statement of “it’s like having four little angels incessantly
watching over your traction”. The statement indicates the power of X5’s wheels. This is
because the “four little angels” points to the four powerful wheels that will take care of the

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driver’s driving experience just like angels that watch over a soul. The image of four angels is
also positioned besides every tire represents the meaning of the headline.

The other information is not depicted through images instead it is all written in a
small size wordings. The information such as the liters and engine types are constructed in
sentences. However, the readers might not notice the information as it is written in a very
small font. Although, it is positioned right under the graphics, it might seem as less important
to read whereas the sentences construct are very appealing. The type size is too small and the
typeface is also very common and unattractive. It makes their call-to-action elements fails to
persuade customers. Besides, just like Audi’s print, BMW also included their own logo and
slogan of “The Ultimate Driving Machine” to signify their brand similar to what Audi did.

Both brands aims to market their new car released by stressing on their unique selling
point (USP) and the concept that they used is quite similar. The concept applied used
representation to reflect on the car’s performance. For example, Audi includes the image
comparison for the car parts explanation instead of elaborating it in word while BMW X5 use
“angels” are the representation of the wheel’s strength, capability but explain on the other
criteria by writing in short paragraph instead. In terms of that, compared to the Audi A1’s
concept, the “angels” concept of BMW is very interesting and attractive because it is
memorable. The ingredients in BMW advertisements makes it distinct from others and it also
depicts their target audience which is affluent families. The angels’ concept that reflects the
safety give assurance to the groups while the Audi’s does not really specify it to the target
audience; young successful. Thus, in terms of message delivery, BMW did a better job
compared to Audi.

The ingredients in the advertisement determine the creativity that able to associates
the meaning that a brand wants to deliver. Delivering message as mentioned above is the
main goals and in order to make it happen. The other small parts in the advertisement such as
the headlines, fonts and type size plays a major role at the same time. Based on the Audi’s
advertisement, the combination of the three criteria are balanced while the BMW’s is not
appealing enough. The reason behind the statement is because BMW does not use any fancy
designs that would actually give more impact on the reader. First, the font of their catchy
phrase is written in a small size and basic type of fonts; Serif fonts. It is not appealing enough
as the message might not reach to reader’s heart as the sentence is actually very captivating.

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 Secondly, the choices of type size is hard to read while Audi minimize the use of
words but still readable and connect it to the graphics. That helps readers to imagine it but
BMW’s information positioning is not properly pointed out. So, the creative design of Audi
A1 is better in giving readers information compared to BMW. The layout for both
advertisement is also different. Audi used free vector design while BMW used silhouette
layout. Each layout suits both concepts and the amount of information the insert. Overall, the
Audi A1 advertisement did a better job than the BMW X5’s advertisement.

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References:

Audi A1 - A Big Idea Condensed. (2011, November 18). Retrieved December 29, 2019,

from http://bradsadresearch.blogspot.com/2013/11/audi-a1-big-idea-condensed.html.

Hussein, M., Larson, L., & Msu. (2017, April 18). What makes a memorable

advertisement? Retrieved December 30, 2019, from

https://www.msureporter.com/2017/04/18/what-makes-a-memorable-advertisement/.

KMS TEAM. (2017). Retrieved December 30, 2019, from https://www.kms-

team.com/en/references/audi-1#details.

Only selected creativity - Audi A1: The big idea condensed. (2011, October 1). Retrieved

December 30, 2019, from http://www.adeevee.com/2011/10/audi-a1-the-big-idea-

condensed-print/.

Zigu. (2011, November 20). BMW X5 SWOT Analysis: Top BMW X5 Competitors &

USP: Brand Analysis. Retrieved December 30, 2019, from

https://www.mbaskool.com/brandguide/automobiles/4890-bmw-x5.html.