Audi: Official Luxury Car of the New York Yankees
Published: March 23rd, 2009
Share
In their quest to position the German automotive brand as, uh, something, Audi has decided to “invest” in the New York Yankees. Audi’s decision to back the Yanks may miff supporters of the 29 other Major League Baseball teams. But hey, those that own Audis could get a shot at seeing their team play the pin-striped perennial pennant winners in the newly re-christened Audi Yankees Club, a “premium entitlement area” perched high atop The House that Ruth Built. I thought it was baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet. Tempus fugit.
More by Robert Farago
Comments
Join the conversation
TireGuy Can you please tell me how a German luxury car brand and baseball go together? As far as I'm aware, baseball is "all American," a sport that's supposed to appeal to ALL classes. Unlike, say, tennis (Mercedes-Benz). Or golf (Buick). Drill down a bit deeper. How does a luxury brand and the Yankees go together? As several of our commentators have pointed out, the Yankees are one of the least popular baseball teams (didn't I just see an ad where a Yankees player celebrated his own vilification?). In fact, Red Sox fans HATE the Yankees. What's Audi's logic for picking sides in that kind of long-standing enmity?
Most Americans hate the Yankees, and Audi drivers. It's a marketing match made in Noo Yawk. (Yes, I still want an A5.)
Robert, point taken. But you started with "In their quest to position the German automotive brand as, uh, something, Audi has decided to “invest” in the New York Yankees." This basically implies that Audi has not yet positioned itself as a Luxury brand - which is certainly untrue for Germany, and I believe also untrue for the US. So, if you would make your point that what they are doing now is contrary to their existing positioning, your argument gets a direction. On the other hand: it is quite normal that manufacturers associate themselved with certain teams, also for cars. In German Soccer, Opel was a partner of Bayern Munich - loved by half of the population, hated by the rest. VW is the natural sponsor of VfL Wolfsburg, which many people despise as a team only running on VWs sponsoring. Hyundai was a sponsor of Hamburg. You can go on forever. Accordingly, I do not agree to the point that choosing to outfit one team makes the fans of all other teams stop buying your product. Marketing research has proven otherwise.