In this situation it was essential that customers feel heard ?and understood.

Audi has always stood for „Vorsprung durch Technik“. But now we had to

communicate a different aspect. One that is deeply rooted in our name:

Audi is latin for ""listen"". So the idea was to bring this name ?back to life with

a film and a Social Media campaign. To show the emotional side of a brand

that usually stands for ""Vorsprung durch Technik"". And show our customers

that they are heard and understood.

With events like these, it is extremely difficult to predict a campaign timeline

in advance. To us it was important to communicate our position of acceptance

towards these allegations very quickly and show the will for improvement.

Our communication quickly showed results – and was even picked up by

Audi supporters and fans worldwide. With fan made videos and supportive

posts on social media. Audi was listening. The customers were responding.

After the [Listen] campaign launched, brand image numbers for Audi

significantly increased. Especially the campaign’s main aim – to rebuild trust

in Audi – was met perfectly. In the „most trusted brands“-ranking that is

published yearly by Reader's Digest, the German premium carmaker was even

able to improve from the 4th to the 3rd place. Impact could also be measured

regarding the brands value overall: in the Interbrand-ranking, Audi’s brand

value increased by 14% in 2016 (Tier 1).

These high image numbers also had a positive influence on sales numbers:

Worldwide, Audi had to produce more cars than ever before – a plus of

100.000 in 2016. For Europe alone, sales went up more than ever before:

Audi sold 60.000 more cars than in 2015 (Tier 3).

So with the help of our communication, we managed to turn the darkest

situationin the company's history into a success story. Rebuild pride of

our workers. And regain trust of customers and partners.