Vorsprungdurch branding
Audi Automobile customers are becoming increasingly self-confident when interacting with brand, and have great expectations when it comes to personalised offerings. This puts the focus on digital channels. This is why »digital first« was the requirement for the new Audi corporate design. An innovative co-creation process with Audi and two agencies resulted in the development of an identity system that allows the brand to communicate more dynamically and flexibly, with more creative freedom across all touch points. How can such a highly adaptable, yet consistent solution be successful?
We have a dynamic, open system of creative diversity based on the principles of versatility, honesty and balance.
Principles instead of rules
Audi is taking a radical approach. For the first time, principles are replacing rigid, conventional rules. This pioneering spirit inspired many market players to adjust their corporate designs accordingly. Audi’s new corporate design is based on radically simplified basic elements, the free placement of the logo, equal weighting of brand colors and vibrant typography.
This creates new opportunities to design communication as a living dialogue between people and the brand. Interactions that promote identification allow the brand to get closer than ever to the real lives of its customers. The new Audi imagery further enhances this effect: It avoids artificial perfection, and presents the brand once again as an authentic experience.
Our shared goal was as logical as it was radical: reducing the brand design to a few overarching principles.
Reaching transformation goals more quickly
Simon Betsch, Managing Director at KMS TEAM, about the link between brand presence and strategic goals: »Digitisation and customer orientation pose major challenges to many companies. Work on the brand needs to generate quick results that are visible and effective across all touch points in order to steer change processes within the business.«
Smart tools save time and money
Printed CD manuals consisting of thousands of pages are long passé, and usually go unread. Instead, we created an intuitive brand portal that makes Audi’s branding easy to understand and apply. Digital tools simplify workflows, e.g. the logo ending app. It automatically integrates the animated logo in the video, making it part of the brand message. Or the ring calculator, which defines the correct proportions between the type and logo at the touch of a button. This considerably reduces the cost of the design implementation.
More attitude under the hood
Audi Sport The Audi Sport brand has gained more clout and refined its profile thanks to this principle-based rebranding approach. For us, it was about more than just mere performance positioning. The brand was supposed to become a statement against uniformity. Its powerful identity tells stories of intense experiences, moments full of adrenaline and independence. The visual identity of this sub-brand is based on the same ecosystem as Audi, but has a more intense, distinctive look due to unconventional, disruptive design principles.
Audi
Audi is one of the world’s most successful manufacturers of premium automobiles, active in over 100 global markets with 16 production sites in 11 countries. Audi Sport GmbH is a wholly-owned subsidiary of AUDI AG. The Audi Group delivered around 1.845 million Audi brand vehicles to customers in 2019. Today, around 90,000 people around the world work for the company, with 60,000 of them in Germany alone. Audi capitalises on sustainable products and technologies for the future of mobility.
Meet the team
![Kms team patrick maerki 01 4 3]()
Patrick Märki
Managing Partner
![Kms team andreas zeischegg 03 4 3]()
Andreas Zeischegg
Design Director
Services and results
- The new, principle-based Audi corporate design anticipates the demands of digital transformation.
- Our adaptive, highly flexible design system puts the brand in a position to quickly, simply and cost-effectively align itself with all future demands on a global level.
- The newly designed brand portal provides design elements and automated, digital design tools to ensure consistent use in 170 countries. The platform also serves to convey the identity and values of the Audi brand.
- Thanks to their forward-looking approach, our rebranding solution and brand portal also support the design and innovation expertise that the Audi brand is known for.
