Unique Co-branding of the "Zen Master" and Audi

Having eleven records of the NBA Championship, the highest winning percentage of any Hall of Fame NBA Coach and being ranked as one of the Top 10 Coaches in NBA History says alot. And after retiring from coaching the Los Angeles Lakers, the legendary coach Phil Jackson still shows he has the wits to inspire greatness within the new Audi A8 commercial. It was aired during the 2011 NFL opening season only once, and although much buzz is not circulating from the advertisement, the commercial is surely unique in its communication.

The verbal irony of dealing with egos is what makes the commercial great since Jackson handled the self-admiration's of some of the NBA's top players like Micheal Jordan and Kobe Bryant who is known for carrying a big head. This is especially true since Mike Brown took over as head coach of the Lakers. The commercial plays upon this topic in a suddle yet savvy approach while also upholding Jackson's perception of being the "Zen Master".

His "Master Roshi" qualities helped persuade Michael Jordan to embrace the triangle offense for the Chicago Bulls which was briefly noted within the commercial. He also persuaded O'Neal and Bryant to temporarily put their issues aside for three consecutive title runs and recently helped a tear-jerkng Dennis Rodman compose himself through an emotional Hall of Fame acceptance speech.

In some ways, the Audi brand as a whole can be compared to Phil Jackson due to its historical reputation for achieving greatness making both a unique co-branding experience.
         

Being recognized as an innovative luxury car company, Audi is one of the oldest German-established automobile manufacturers that was started in 1910 in Zwickau, Germany. By 1931, Audi was the world's first volume-built car that incorporated front-wheel drive with 250,000 vehicles sold. And according to statistics from autospies.com, Audi's global sales as of May 2010 rose 14.6 percent with a total of 455,700 premium cars sold by the second quarter of 2010 outbeating Mercedes-Benz and BMW.



The Audi Type K 1921 Model

 And as of May 2011, Audi still continues with progressing sales while maintaining a 19.5 percent lead (roughly 113,400 cars) ahead of Mercedes-Benz as stated by BMWblog. Audi also continues to be the leader within the Chinese market with a 44.6 percent market share followed by BMW.

With such history, high sales and large market share within Asia, Europe as well as the US; what better way to showcase these accomplishments then by teaming up with historical and well-accomplished figure Phil Jackson. As the commercial said, "True Greatness Should Never Go Unrecognized."