The vehicle was on display in the ski jump throughout the duration of the competition.
TORONTO Audi Canada has taken sponsored branding to the extreme. During the FIS Ski Cross World Cup, which took place March 3 to 5 at Blue Mountain Resort in Collingwood, Ontario, the Audi Canada team engineered a one-of-a-kind ski jump that was embedded with an Audi vehicle.
"Last year we conceptualized an idea of how to make a car part of the experience simply by placing it within the course itself," said Philipp Von Horn, the project's lead engineer and managing director of HornMedia Werbe GmbH. The research and development of the ski jump began in October 2016 with HornMedia Werbe GmbH taking the lead on building the capsule for the Audi R8. "Long hours of detailed planning, coordinating, and on-site control went into realizing the vision [from last year]," said Von Horn. With agency XMC Sponsorship and Experiential handling the event production, the stunt's purpose was to show the progress of the brand in each and every aspect, and not just with Audi's cars.
"We wanted to create a conversation about the brand," said Christian Schueller, director of marketing and digital innovation for Audi Canada. "It is a challenge to put a car up there that you can jump over." Two years ago, the Audi team executed a similar stunt where alpine downhillers jumped over an Audi TT in Austria. "We had never attempted this during a ski cross competition," Schueller noted. "We thought this would demonstrate that an Audi with Quattro could be driven safely even in winter conditions."
The ski jump was installed for the duration of the competition.
