Audi recognizes the importance of Super Bowl advertising, too, so it’s trying to duplicate the success of last year’s “Release the Hounds” and "Goodnight" ads, which poked fun at stodgy luxury car stereotypes. While not the touchdown achieved by sister company Volkswagen, it was still a solid field goal for Audi.
The German automaker is remarkably tight-lipped about this year’s Super Bowl spot, its fifth consecutive big game ad. All Audi is willing to say is that the brand’s signature LED headlights take center stage, alongside the new 2013 Audi S7.
Scott Keogh, Audi of America’s Chief Marketing Officer, said, “LED lights have established the Audi persona and have become one of the most recognizable features on the road. Like our LEDs, this year’s Super Bowl spot will be unmistakably Audi.”
Lexus, on the other hand, will roll out its very first Super Bowl ad this year, previewed in the 15-second teaser above, in an effort to attract new (and younger) buyers to the brand. Lexus’ ad will center on the all-new 2013 GS, which the ad warns “can’t be contained.”
To promote the upcoming Super Bowl ad, Lexus is even launching a football-themed social media game called “TweetDrive Engineed by Lexus.” During the NFL playoffs, the TweetDrive game will run live on NBCSports.com, and players compete to move their “team” down the field by answering football and social media questions.
Lexus is launching nine new or updated models in 2012, and communicating that to the 50 million viewers who tune in to the Super Bowl will go a long way towards renewing consumer interest in the brand. Given that the average 30-second television spot during this year’s game will cost $3.5 million, it had better.