Only once per decade does the iconic Italian car company known as Lamborghini present a new V12, scissor-door flagship When you’re as recognizable and universally respected (and desired) as Lamborghini you know that your new offering will be a success. In the same way that people of a different tax bracket line up when Apple offers a new iPhone, the car company understands that they will sell a lot of cars. However, this aspect does not dissuade their desire to outdo themselves in regards to engineering, aesthetics, or sales models. The unique characteristic of a company like Lamborghini is that it’s not only about sales; it’s also about perception. The Italian car makers don’t want to simply sell to the current 30-50-year-old male, they want to create a culture in which generations perceive the aspiration and achievement of owning one of their fine automobiles as the type of goal that children, parents, and grandparents share. They want their cars to be seen as an institution and this requires a company to present them in ways much more far-reaching than end of the year sales goals. As part of Philipp & Keuntje, (Senior Copywriter) Sandra Eichner & (Creative Director) Soenke Schmidt manifested an approach to present Lamborghini’s Aventador LP 700-4 for this decade's offering. Handling one of the most prestigious events for one of the automotive industry’s most desired and recognizable names was a coup for Philipp & Keuntje, and a challenge for the team that created it. The new model was revealed at a major global automotive event, the Geneva Auto Show, which required Eichner and Schmidt’s work to be shrouded in secrecy and done quickly. A lifelong car fan, Sandra refers to the experience as the most exciting whirlwind she has ever had the good fortune to be at the center of.
Eichner has worked with a number of globally recognized names in the automotive industry but, with all due respect, Lamborghini is a car and a name which represents its own category and definition. The brand’s motto, “Extreme. Uncompromising. Italian.” truly sums up how they embrace the difference between themselves and all others. No one purchasing a Lamborghini is thinking in terms of practicality, they are realizing a dream. The idea is not to appeal to the most people but rather to elicit the most out of the people attracted to this iconic car.
With a company who relishes in the polarizing nature of their product, one might wonder why they would hire someone to advertise. Because they only present a new flagship model once per decade, this launch is a massive event that excites the industry and even attracts paparazzi. The massive attention that is automatically created means that Lamborghini is keenly aware of being presented in a manner that not only capitalizes on this but also presents them in a forward evolving manner. It was communicated to Sandra that for the Aventador launch the desire was to generate sales, show off the car as effectively as possible, create fascination and desire, while also making the people at Lamborghini proud of their work.
There is such a culture, such a fascination from the company’s fans, Sandra decided to manifest something that would be lasting as well. As a befittingly stunning companion for the Aventador LP 700-4, for which Eichner coined the tagline, "A Relentless Force", she created a coffee table book that was given to prospective Aventador buyers. Along with Soenke Schmidt, Sandra conceived this book to introduce the new car as the ultimate continuation of the brand's story and the history of its legendary V12 engines. The heart of the book is the Aventador and its revolutionary features, including a sneak peek at the customer's color, trim and personalization options, but the car and brand's home in Sant'Agata Bolognese gets its moment in the spotlight, too.
The book detailed the technical brilliance, raw power, and legacy of the car and brand which correlated to the greatness that the clients envision in themselves. In many ways, a car is one’s way of letting people know how you see yourself. Soenke Schmidt (currently Executive Creative Director at Philipp & Keuntje, Creative Director on Audi and Lamborghini during his work on the Aventador project) recognized the importance of the project for the firm and Sandra’s essential contributions stating, “This was a project that everyone was very excited but also anxious about. We all understood that there was a lot of pressure to produce something great. It was so much fun to see Sandra, a female writer, kick so much ass…especially on a brand that’s on the highest level of car advertising and has been primarily a male domain for a long time! She’s a bit of a petrol head herself and I think it resonated within her work on the Aventador project in many great ways. It’s easy to be passionate about Lambourghini but the technical specs aren’t something ad creatives get too deeply into most of the time. For a car like this, where not only the design but also the engine, suspension, transmission etc. are such big factors, you have to really know what’s going on. Sandra possesses a great ability to eat information up like a sponge and then ‚spit it out’ in a form that’s easy to understand, fun, and interesting. It was great to know the launch was in such good hands, or rather a good brain.“
While creating the book, Eichner also worked on an epic 3-minute film that accompanied the official reveal of the Aventador and was subsequently used with great success on a variety of platforms (Youtube, Social Media, etc). Working with production studio, Sehsucht and directed by Ole Peters, comments online about the production described it as “The greatest car commercial ever”, proof that fans of the car have their passion stoked with the proper presentation. None of this is lost on Sandra when it comes to inspiration and creation. She concedes, “Great cars are so much more than transportation. Understanding how they can make you feel is a big factor when conceiving and writing ads. For the Aventador, it was a lot more extreme, obviously. My job was to transport the feeling of driving the car and the legend of the brand, not just to describe the features. And sharing the same fascination and appreciation that your audience has helps a lot because it comes across in the work. It has been proven, and it totally makes sense, that most creative ads are also the most effective. Why? Because they’re noticed. Because they stand out. Because they have relevance or elicit some sort of emotional response. The best thing we can do is to make ads that are good by creative standards and stand the test of both the client’s needs and the target audience’s attention span.” While Sandra Eichner may not have created the legend that is Lamborghini, she certainly knows how to place the spotlight on it in a way that shines a very strong light and casts a long shadow.