The RS4 was no ordinary Audi and the job of communications was to leverage its power to drive sales and brand desirability across the whole range. We needed to use communications to convey power in a way that would challenge both BMW and also polite preconceptions of the Audi brand. The strategy we followed was one that conveyed the darker, edgier side of power: we called it ‘Sinister Extremes’.

For the first time Audi beat BMW on overall brand image tracking scores. Sales targets were thrashed. The halo effect created a big surge in enquiries for the standard A4 and tracking showed we’d increased desirability of the brand as a whole, putting brochure requests at an all time high.

We created a web of communications content that was both culturally interesting, but also dark and edgy. The ‘Sinister Extremes’ work was tied together by strong visual and thematic elements, with the emphasis placed on generating maximum interactivity with the communications, including Bluetooth, interactive TV, music downloads, editorial specials and experiential events.

The target audience is an affluent younger car purchaser who wants their car to deliver excitement, but who are also culturally switched-on and don’t tend to engage heavily with traditional motoring media. Our ‘Sinister Extremes’ strategy encompassed many cultural touchpoints: downloadable ‘sinister symphonies’ with Ipod, a ‘Sinister Cinema’ season, a one-off graphic novella by Frazer Irving distributed with the Telegraph. Rich and interactive content was distributed online, via i-TV and via bluetoothed screens at stations.