Audi : In the Nick of Time

Analyse the visual images, presentational devices and language of an Audi car advertisement.

Advertising is a vital part of most companies' marketing strategies. It often aims to persuade people to buy goods or services, or just to reinforce a particular brand-name. Advertising campaigns are often aimed at certain groups of people, and car advertisements show this targeting particularly well. Car manufacturers often base their advertising campaigns on one idea or theme.

For example, recently Volkswagen have been advertising the Polo on a "surprisingly ordinary prices" ticket. Ford highlight the Escort's versatility, while Daewoo emphasise the added extras that come with their cars ("That'll be the Daewoo"). Audi, by contrast, emphasise the superior power and quality of their product. We have studied an Audi television advertisement entitled "In the Nick of Time".

The storyline of the advertisement is reasonably simple, although the audience are kept 'in the dark' until the end. A man receives what is obviously an urgent phone call. He rushes off to get his son and they drive off in their gleaming Audi through the night. When they arrive they run into a large building down a corridor to a bright room at the end. Finally the mystery is explained. The man has come to see his new-born child at the hospital.

The Audi advertisement uses a large number of different visual images to show both the 'storyline' of the advertisement and the car to their full extent.

At the beginning of the advertisement, the audience is immediately alerted to the sense of urgency by the shot of the man grabbing a jacket and the close-up on the hanging receiver.

Meanwhile the man's son is playing on a complicated-looking zoetrope. This, combined with the speed at which the boy reacts to the situation seems to show he has an understanding beyond his years. The appearance of the boy helps us understand who the advertisement may be aimed at : professional, well off families. The shot of the whirling toy provides a moment of respite before the relentless action continues.

The camera now cuts to outside and we have our first view of the Audi. It is early evening and the last of the sun's light reflects off the shining black body, showing off its curves to the best extent. It looks smart, sophisticated and high-quality.

As the car drives off, we catch a glimpse of the alloy wheels, another mark of quality. While other manufacturers might promote the presence of what is usually an 'optional extra', Audi do not even mention this, their attitude being that quality comes as standard. The landscape through which the car drives does not look British - the tree-lined roads, architecture (and left-hand drive car) point to a German setting. The idyllic landscape is something the target audience may aspire to.

As the car drives smoothly through the countryside, the sun sinks lower in the sky. The rest of the advertisement is shot in more or less darkness. This makes it far more atmospheric than it would be in daylight. The car now drives into a seemingly deserted city. The darkness and emptiness give a sense of danger, reinforced by pouring rain, which is becoming heavier and heavier. There are a lot of fast, changing shots in this part of the advertisement, showing the passage of the car from all angles. These do have specific uses, for example one shot, showing a worm's-eye view from the road surface shows the car's suspension to the full. The darkness ensures the different shots run together smoothly without looking too 'zany' or 'gimmicky'.

The car seems to almost 'float' through the wet and darkened city, highlighting its superb handling grip and cornering, even in difficult conditions. When the car is forced to stop at traffic lights, the man's impatience again betrays the urgency of the situation. His on looks out of the window at a stationary carousel ride. This may be an attempt to compare this to the Audi, the idea being that both give you a thrill but the Audi is also totally safe. Of course, this is clever manipulation of the truth - as a fairground would no doubt be keen to point out, you have far more chance of being in a car crash than in a fairground accident. The shot of the carousel reflected in the car window cleverly combines car and ride in one shot.

The car accelerates smoothly away from the lights - another indication of its superior handling and acceleration - and continues on its journey.

Finally, the car pulls up outside a large imposing building. The advertisement has cleverly managed to 'compress time' so that the car appears to have covered a long journey in a relatively short time. The man dashes out, remembering just in time to let hs son out with him - clearly a man of action, but with responsibilities. The shots showing the boy - here in the advertisement and previously staring out of the window at the carousel provide a different angle to the action. The audience, meanwhile, still do not know what the destination actually is. The suspense is heightened as man and boy run down a darkened corridor. There is a quick succession of different shots of their faces, their running feet and a POV (Point of View) shot looking down towards the lighted room at the end of the corridor.

The end of the advertisement itself is shot in almost slow-motion, providing a striking contrast to the rest of the fast-moving action. The brightness of the final shots also comes as a contrast. As father and son burst into the room, we see a new-born baby, screaming.

This makes everything fall into place - the man has come with his son to see the birth of his new child. As well as the symbolism of the baby (see later) there is a very good reason for this ploy. When the audience have finally comprehended the meaning of the ending and are therefore rather more attentive, the screen cuts abruptly to the Audi name and logo.

The soundtrack is an integral part of the advertisement. The same background music runs throughout, providing a sense of continuity. The music is clear with a soothing, possibly Latin vocal line and a strong rhythm. This gives the advertisement impetus and the shots often change 'on the beat'.

The first part of the advertisement (up to the shots of the car driving away) has only the music playing in the background. This means the visual images continue undisturbed, heightening the 'suspense'. Then, smoothly the voice-over takes over. The sensuous tones are clearly the voice of a mature, confident woman. I think the most likely rationale for this choice is the sexual appeal to male viewers or listeners.

The first line of the voice-over cuts in, without breaking up the flow of the visual images.

"Life is full of decisions"

This introduces the idea of choice - by the end of the advertisement, you may be persuaded to choose Audi. However, as the advertisement explains, some of these decisions are "of the head" - that is balanced, sensible and rational; while some are "of the heart" - impulsive and passionate.

"Take your next car"

This imperative attempts to start the audience thinking. Although there have been some indications, this is the first time the advertisement makes clear it is for the car itself. As car advertisements are ubiquitous nowadays, this might cause some people to think : 'Not another car advert' and ignore the rest. The advertisement therefore tries to introduce this 'gently'.

The next part of the voice-over, talking about the car's catalytic converter, assumes the audience have some technical knowledge and is not condescending in any way. It emphasises the environmentally friendly aspects of the car. The statistic "removes 95% of toxic pollutants" has been worded to sound impressive, but thinking about it, what comparison do we really have ? For all we know, all cars may remove 95%.

"Will it be clean, yet lose nothing in performance?"

This is reassuring, trying to show these environmental safeguards do not compromise the car's quality.

"Will it have all this at no extra cost?"

All this! If the audience stopped to think for a moment, they would realise "all this" comprised two unsubstantiated and rather uninspiring claims - the qualities of the catalytic converter and an assurance of good 'performance'.

"In short, will it be one of the advanced new generation of Audis?"

This is the point that the advertisement has been working up towards - the naming of the car itself. The choice of the words 'new generation' is, of course, very important - the new generation of cars represented by the baby's place it its own 'new generation'.

Audi's slogan "Vorsprung durch Technik" is the epitome of their marketing campaign. Translated into English this means 'Progress through Technology', but the foreignness adds a great deal of impetus to what would otherwise be a rather uninspiring and run-of-the-mill phrase (compare 'First man, then machine', 'Technology you can enjoy' from Honda, and 'Power for your control' by Alfa Romeo). Audi's slogan plays on the public's pre-conceptions that German engineering is thorough and efficient. The final line of the voice-over cleverly uses the same language and symbolism as the beginning of the advertisement. ("as both your head and your heart would say"). This, along with the picture of the new-born baby provides a strong and forceful ending to the advertisement.

This advertisement's strong underlying storyline makes it quite effective in targeting a narrow band of consumers. However I feel that, for a relatively long (60 seconds in total) advertisement that must cost a lot of money to screen each time, it is not actually that clear. It really requires a second viewing to understand and appreciate it fully. There is perhaps also a risk of the audience failing to see the 'point' of the advertisement - especially if they have the volume turned down low. On the other hand, the advertisement is noticeable enough to get people to remember at least the Audi name. It is also the sort of advertisement you might talk about with a friend (or even write an essay about!). Although not perfect, it is certainly more memorable than other car adverts by so-called 'quality' manufacturers.

Honda : Have it all in an instant

I have studied a Honda magazine advertisement which is included along with these comments.

The biggest 'items' on the page are unsurprisingly the picture of the car itself and the start of the hookline, telling you the price of £12,950. The hookline itself is in clear sans serif type, with the first part larger and highlighted in red. The second part of the hookline, "you can have it all in an instant" is a humorous imitation of the National Lottery scratchcard slogan, "forget it all for an instant". The idea of scratchcards and competitions is carried on throughout the advertisement.

In the centre are ten 'star features' of the Honda. As I have indicated, these can be generally placed into three categories, which are aimed to appeal to different target audiences. Performance features marked with a P may appeal to car enthusiasts, particularly men. The average car-owner has no idea was double wishbone suspension is, but it sounds impressive. Safety and security features (marked with S) may appeal to families with children, or those concerned about crime. Lastly comfort and other features, marked with a C, appeal to those who expect their car to be an extension of their home. The features have been presented to look like a scratchcard.

This is also true of the picture of the car. Although the car takes up quite a small space on the page, it appears to have a great deal of character. The sleek lines showing up clearly against the background. The angle the photograph has been taken from makes it look more 3D and 'chunky'. Other advertisements use different camera angles, for example a recent advertisement for the Peugeot 406 Estate used a side on shot to emphasise the expansive length of the car.

The main copy of the advertisement is concentrated up in the top right-hand corner. After the standard logo, company name and slogan, the rest of the text is in a small, though easy to read font. The large line spacing means your eyes do not accidentally skip lines. To enliven what might other be rather uninteresting reading, the advertisement uses the competition theme to provide an original angle. The language is of TV gameshows : "you've correctly chosen", "we wouldn't send you away without", "You too can play", and so on. One of the more noticeable parts of the text (no doubt because it is in bold) is the telephone number, with a local rate (0345) number. This code is well known and so people know that their call will be very cheap. The final line of the text is perhaps a more appropriate slogan for this campaign. "Technology you can enjoy" is more in line with the rest of the theme.

This advertisement is more 'clever' than it appears at first glance. However, without a particularly attention-grabbing design, you could quite easily scan past it. Once readers have been attracted, however, the advertisement cleverly pulls them in.