Venables Bell & Partners Is Driving Home Audi’s Appeal

Action adventure films are some of Hollywood’s greatest blockbusters. Why aren’t more commercials taking a page out of this well-worn book?

Westerns are some of Hollywood’s greatest blockbusters. Why aren’t more commercials taking a page out of this well-worn book?

Both Audi long-form commercials are highly cinematic. Both are mini-movies with a narrative arc, high production values, famous director, superior talent and so on. The Western (“Desolation”) aired during The Emmy’s last Sept. The action-adventure (“Duel”) aired during the Presidential debates.

If these two spots for Audi don’t convince you that Venables Bell & Partners is one of the top players in the agency game right now, nothing will. Except this. The Western is also a cobranded promotion with Airbnb. You can stay in the house that’s featured in the commercial and drive the A8.

At $610 per night, it’s not cheap, but that didn’t pose a bookings problem.

Here’s a look at some of the descriptive product copy on Airbnb’s site:

You are cordially invited to book a once in a lifetime experience that includes one day of driving – all under the masterful eye of some of our best driving instructors.

This is, quite possibly, the world’s fastest overnight in more ways than one: an Airbnb two night stay powered by the most powerful production model Audi has ever built – The Audi R8 V10 plus. With an engine and chassis derived 50% from the R8 LMS racecar, and a powerful 610-hp V10 that has the potential to hit 0-60 in a mere 3.2 seconds, the Audi R8 is one beautiful beast of engineering. And it’s waiting for you on a remote stretch of land near Death Valley, Nevada, miles from anyone or anything. A home with no address, only coordinates on a map.

This promotion is aspirational but affordable (for those with large incomes), which fits both brands well. I love that you don’t need to win to experience the offer, you just need to step up and pay up before it’s sold out.