Marketing Strategies in the Automobile Industry

Marketing Strategies in the Automobile Industry

Jesse Clark

Contemporary Business

Professor Jean Fonkoua

Strayer University

June 4, 2014

Picture an angelic white, glistening body of a machine, or maybe it’s not a machine; it is perhaps too amazing for such a mundane label. The curves are sharp and yet the vehicle appears smooth and graceful. A 19” titanium finished wheel begins to turn atop a set of rollers that keep the car in place and the engine, oh the engine, whispers hello. The engine coos, it is a gentle hum, a lullaby, it is the sound we want our own cars to make. The image moves smoothly over the car’s passenger side, highlighted by a carbon fiber Sigma side blade that you might not understand but somewhere deep inside you know means high performance. Soon the calm hum turns into a growl, the growl into a throaty shout of power, the wheels begin to whir and for a moment, despite the rollers, the car appears as if it will lurch forward, propelled by a power source we cannot imagine. The camera moves over the body of the vehicle, illustrating its smooth angles and pans over the engine, which is stored in the rear. It sparkles beneath the display lights and the roar grows louder while the engine appears to be under no stress whatsoever. Just another day, it says.

The camera moves downward and displays a removed back-end and the full depth of the powerful engine. Dual flames erupt from thruster-like valves as the gas pedal is pressed and depressed. While we watch, something inside says, “This isn’t a car, but a jet with wheels.” The sound dies out, narrowing back to a soothing hum. The picture fades to white and a caption hangs minimally, “Evolution on the outside” followed by, “Revolution on the inside.” This is the 2014 Audi R8 V10 Plus, and it is a poster on the wall, a fantasy, a dream for all but those few who can afford it. This is luxury, this is life at the top and inside thirty seconds most of us see a magnificent part of life...