When Audi Canada launched its YouTube Channel in mid-May, Mike Briscoe’s goal was to get 20,000 channel views by the end of June.
The channel blew that goal out of the water. As of today, it has reached 55,000 channel views. Not bad for the car company’s first foray into the social mediasphere in Canada.
“In a sense, the channel is a bit of an experiment,” said Briscoe, director of marketing and product strategy at Audi Canada. “It’s a channel that’s coming out of nowhere… we didn’t have anything [like this] before.”
The channel went up on May 16 and aligned with the launch of the Audi A7. It will also serve as an Audi brand channel. “We’ll be taking what we can from a global, Audi AG perspective and putting up anything that we think is relevant for a Canadian Audi consumer or potential consumer,” said Briscoe.
This includes unique Canadian content. For example, when the Audi Drive Experience comes to Canada in September, the resulting video footage will appear on the channel. The Audi Drive Experience, which already exists within the global Audi world, will give more than 1,000 people across the country the chance to drive Audis alongside driving instructors to learn the benefits of the cars firsthand.
Briscoe added that Audi Canada may also add content from Le Mans 24 Hours, a 24-hour car race held in France every year, to the channel. The link between consumers here and the race is how Audi incorporates race car technology into its regular models. “It’s very Canadian relevant content because when you look at an R18, the Audi race car, Audi has won that race many times.”
The Audi Ultra lightweight technology used in the R18 ultimately gets translated into everyday Audi models, such as the A6, which is launching in September. “So that’s relevant content for Canada. It’s something we need to be highlighting and the YouTube Channel is a great place to put it,” he said.
As for now, the channel features videos and information on the A7, which was initially unveiled in Canada at the Interior Design Show in Toronto in January.
TV spots for the A7 aired throughout May and June in primetime, including during House and the Stanley Cup playoffs.
This particular model lent itself well to a visual platform, said Briscoe. “What we really wanted to show was the fantastic exterior and interior design of the car. This car is going beyond the boundary to show what Audi can do [with design] and what better way to show that than on YouTube where you can show the video and you can see it well?”
There’s been some positive feedback in the comments section of the channel about the look and functionality of the A7. “Sexy beast! Love the design and totally geeking out over all the cool tech,” posted one fan.
Audi Canada’s target, added Briscoe, is aged 45 to 55 with relatively high household income – a demo that’s YouTube savvy.
New content for the channel will go up in August.
Lowe Roche, Audi Canada’s AOR, created the YouTube channel and will monitor and maintain it.
