23 July 2012

The opening of Audi City, the latest attempt by a carmaker to create a ‘digital showroom’, attracted a random selection of celebrities including (among others) Pixie Geldof, Paloma Faith and Bryan Ferry.

It’s hard to believe that any of them has actually gone out and bought a car – at least not in their recent past. But then, if you read Marketing Week, Audi City isn’t actually about selling cars; it’s “more about creating an experience of the brand”.

The concept is not new. Other carmakers stretching back to Rover in the 1990s have tried the digital showroom approach in the past. And neither, incidentally, are the premises which were previously the Sytner-run Audi Forum and, prior to that, Saab Piccadilly.

For a premium brand, such as Audi, having a presence in the West End of London is as much about making a statement as it is about shifting product and, of course, Audi City allows it to do that.

I remember visiting a similar premises (just around the corner) a few years back and commenting to the Dealer Principal that he didn’t seem to have many customers or many sales staff.

“No,” he replied. “The staff are all upstairs on the phones making diplomatic and foreign sales. We don’t actually expect to see our customers in here.”

So, let’s hope the Audi City customer relationship manager is well versed in international credit and VAT-regulations. I suspect the majority of his (or her) drop in visitors are as likely to put their hands in their pockets as the celebs who attended the opening.

Rupert Saunders

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Tags: Audi City, brand experience, digital showroom, do celebs carry cash