Audi Revs Up Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube for Super Bowl

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Audi shifted its Super Bowl XLV campaign into high gear yesterday, running Promoted Trend and Promoted Tweet ads on Twitter. The German carmaker will hit top social media speed in the final two days leading up to its :60 spot in the big game.

The brand's Twitter ads will run through mid-February and feature a "#ProgressIs" hashtag, which will also appear at the end of Audi's Super Bowl spot on Sunday. Viewers who use that hashtag and tweet the campaign URL will be entered to win a trip to Sonoma, CA in late February. Audi will also award $25,000 to a charity on behalf of the winner.

Audi has 26,000 Twitter followers and looks to add more over the weekend. Andrew Lipman, spokesperson for the carmaker, said, "We’re confident that the '#ProgressIs' hashtag will drive online conversation amongst our current base and attract new fans as well."

On Facebook, Audi will spur Super Bowl chatter with an "Estate Sale" app. Facebook users will be challenged to tag various items that show up in Audi's TV ad. That event begins at 7 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, one-half hour after the Super Bowl kicks off. As in the other contest, the grand prize is a trip to Sonoma, CA. On Thursday evening, nearly 700 people on Facebook had tapped the "I'm Attending" button for the online event.

Also on Sunday, Audi has purchased a homepage takeover on YouTube, while, according to Lipman, it will have "significant presence" on NYTimes.com, CNN.com, Slate.com, and WashingtonPost.com. The spokesperson said in an e-mail the brand will appear on those news sites in instances "to share the story of how Luxury has progressed with our affluent, thought-leader prospects."

Additionally, the carmaker has put up a pair of three minute teaser videos for its Super Bowl spot on YouTube. Those videos and the Super Bowl commercial feature pop jazz player Kenny G. and two well-dressed inmates who are trying to escape from a luxury prison.

Lastly, it's the fourth consecutive year Audi has purchased an in-game commercial.