The AA's Bold Quest: Unveiling the Power of Strategic Advertising

The AA’s refreshed visual identity, crafted in collaboration with design consultancy Elmwood, showcases its evolution from its iconic yellow van image and roadside breakdown assistance service to a brand that resonates with a global driving audience.

Consumers can now avail themselves of a wide range of services from the AA, including driving lessons, car purchase or leasing, MOT tests, and insurance. However, according to group brand director Will Harrison, the public's perception of the brand did not align with this diverse offering until about three years ago.

Harrison, who joined the AA approximately three and a half years ago, highlights that qualitative research conducted around that time revealed that people's perception of the brand's personality did not match its actual range of services. The brand was primarily associated with being a breakdown company and was seen as having the personality characteristics of an "old, white English cricketer", he notes.

The brand aimed to establish itself as more than just a brand and highlight its ability to assist consumers throughout their entire driving experience. After internal discussions, Harrison discovered that people desired a more assertive brand that boldly showcased its values. According to him, repositioning the brand to encompass all of its offerings would enable the AA to reach a significantly larger potential audience.

Brand-building played a crucial role in reaching this business objective. While emphasizing breakdown services, the AA could adopt a shorter-term approach in its advertising. Harrison observes that many competitors of the brand's breakdown services primarily emphasize price in their campaigns.

Instead of prioritizing advertising, the focus was on strategy and aligning it with the tactical output of advertising.

In order to broaden The AA's appeal, the business realized it couldn't solely focus on performance advertising. Consequently, the marketing team's mission has been to skillfully combine brand-building and performance to achieve optimal results.

Harrison emphasizes the significance of these pivotal moments, such as acquiring driving skills or purchasing a vehicle, for a brand dedicated to showcasing its services within the driving industry. These moments are highly charged with emotions, thus providing great opportunities for fostering brand identity. Since 2021, the AA, previously a publicly-traded company, has been under the ownership of a consortium comprised of two private-equity firms.

Private equity owners are often associated with a profit-driven approach, which can create challenges in advocating for long-term brand development to investors. Businesses in general strive for growth and aim to achieve positive outcomes, as emphasized by Harrison. However, he does recognize that this objective may be particularly prioritized for private equity stakeholders.

He expresses the importance of a mission to demonstrate and sustain growth. As a marketer, his goal has been to communicate how the brand aligns with this objective and serves as a catalyst for growth. He aims to establish that long-term brand-building advertising is just as valuable for business success as short-term price-focused marketing strategies.

Strategy-first approach

Establishing a unified approach as the initial step played a pivotal role in garnering support for AA's objective of enhancing its brand presence in the long run, both within the organization and among its shareholders in the private equity sector.

"All of this stuff is only effective and embraced by the business if it aligns cohesively with the subsequent activities," he states.

The company aimed to discern its what, who, and why in order to establish a clear strategy.

The "what" encompassed establishing goals and defining the aspirations of the AA. Keeping this in perspective, it was imperative to integrate this mindset into a comprehensive branding strategy and align all endeavors towards accomplishing those objectives.

The "who" involved segmentation, whereby the brand examined various factors influencing individuals at different stages of their lives and determined the most effective means of connecting with them.

The "why" is crucial for a business, although it may seem vague. Harrison believes it is the foundation of the brand and what customers should prioritize. Collaborating with the executive team, he conducted extensive research to craft a purpose statement that would permeate every aspect of the brand's activities.

He says his main focus was ensuring that the agreement we reached aligned with the core values of our business and was effectively incorporated into our brand strategy.

The resulting purpose statement was "instilling driver confidence for both present and future," showcasing the brand's commitment to being more daring and authentic.

Determining its strategic direction and securing stakeholder buy-in was of utmost importance to the AA before engaging in repositioning work. According to Harrison, the focus revolved around prioritizing strategy rather than advertising, and considering how all the elements align to deliver effective tactical advertising output.

Harrison emphasizes the importance of maintaining simplicity and reiterating the strategy to ensure stakeholder support and engagement in both short and long-term projects.

“I feel like I function as an internal PR machine. I present slides that they have likely already seen and reiterate the path we are taking in a clear and concise manner, tying it to tangible commercial results,” he explains.

One valuable piece of advice for other marketers in a similar role is to avoid being overly protective or possessive. Recognize that no business has an endless budget, and it is crucial to approach goals realistically, he advises. He further suggests that marketers should incorporate a thorough comprehension of the business environment into every interaction they have with stakeholders.

Deploying the tactics

According to Harrison, advertising that lacks strategic focus is essentially a "vanity project." While it may yield short-term results, it fails to effectively propel a business towards its goals.

The AA has been focused on building its reputation as a versatile brand for all driving situations for the past three years. In 2020, in collaboration with adam&eveDDB, it introduced 'That Feeling', a campaign featuring Tukker the puppet dog.

According to Harrison, this was likely the first time the AA did not showcase a yellow van in their brand advertisements. The goal was to capture the essence of the Cadbury Gorilla ad, creating a sense of happiness and trust associated with the brand.

The AA's strategic focus of not solely portraying itself as a breakdown service was further accomplished through this advertisement. However, there is still significant progress needed to fully showcase this across all aspects of the brand's identity, according to the speaker. The pivotal aspect, in my opinion, is that the AA is positioned as a brand that is always available, regardless of the vehicle or driving situation.

After completing its strategic work, which included defining its purpose statement, objectives, and obtaining buy-in from the business, the brand was prepared to proceed with its repositioning.

Last year, the AA underwent a pitch process facilitated by Oystercatchers to select a lead creative agency, ultimately appointing The Gate.

During the repositioning process, the AA and its agency partners conducted research to decide the direction to take. One common theme that emerged was the public's recognition of the brand's ability to anticipate drivers' needs. As a result, the AA is implementing forward-thinking initiatives such as offering VR headsets for learner drivers and striving to provide the best digital experience for its customers.

The brand position of "Always Ahead" emerged, serving as a unifying concept for the brand internally and externally, according to Harrison. This concept was then translated into the advertising slogan, "It's OK, I'm with The AA", which effectively communicates the unwavering confidence that comes with being a customer of the AA, explains Harrison.

Change in a time of change

The AA has undergone significant transformation in recent years, working to reshape how the brand is viewed by the public. This endeavor has not only brought about internal alterations but has also ushered in a period of substantial external change.

Harrison became a member of the AA just a few weeks before the pandemic and subsequent lockdown impacted the UK. Due to the lockdowns, the majority of drivers were no longer using the roads, except for essential reasons, which greatly affected the driving brand.

Although Covid had a significant impact on the AA, Harrison acknowledges that it also sparked an existential crisis, prompting the brand to evaluate its position.

Harrison characterizes his experience at the AA as a period of "enacting change in a time of transformation." This encompasses the shifts occurring within the automotive sector.

In recent years, there has been a notable surge in the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) due to their increasing viability and appeal to a wide range of individuals.

Harrison, a former marketer in the telecoms industry, views the introduction of EVs in the automotive sector as comparable to the advancements of 4G and 5G in telecommunications. His goal is to position the AA at the forefront of industry changes, such as the rise of EVs, in order to remain pertinent to all drivers. This aligns with the AA’s mission to maintain relevance for every driver.

“The one thing for me is that the AA is positioned as a brand that is there for you, whatever the vehicle, whatever the driving scenario,” he says.