Audi is going big in the US with an exclusive sponsorship of the inauguration of the next President of the United States. There are a couple reasons why the German car manufacturer has decided to do this. Firstly, Audi had its best sales year to date in 2008, delivering over one million units worldwide in 2008. Second, it is Audi’s 100th Anniversary of automobile production. And third, which is perhaps the most important reason, apparently the marketing folks at Audi saw quite a bit of synergy between Obama’s call for change and their own focus on progress. After all, their tagline is Vorsprung Durch Technik, or advancement/progress through technology.

Audi is making possible limited advertising on ABC, CBS, and NBC evening newscasts during Obama’s inauguration next Tuesday. They’re also doing an 8-page (!) “Progress is Beautiful” newspaper insert in the USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, and The Boston Globe. They’re doing Web promotions such as bringing the inauguration speech live online as the exclusive sponsor of streaming broadcasts on ABCNews.com, CBSNews.com, Msnbc.com, and WashingtonPost.com. Finally, they will be buying full-day sponsorships of Slate.com and sole sponsorship of TheAtlantic.com on January 20th. All told, their web efforts should bring inaugural coverage to over 30 million individuals in real time.

[Source: TheCarConnection]