Pure Porsche
Dec 10, 2007
It isn't every company that can get away with advertising its "philosophy" in major men's and auto buff magazines like Esquire, where ads for cars typically feature sexy photography, a few data points about horsepower and the size of the engine. But Porsche is not just any car, not just any company, not just any brand.
The ad in question features a gatefold image of a gleaming yellow RS Spyder racecar, which is a force in the American LeMans Series. Auto companies often have difficulty connecting the cars they sell in dealerships to the multimillion-dollar screamers they race on the weekend. Not Porsche. The ad, while talking up today's technology in the race car and the cars in showrooms, also elegantly takes the reader back to 1948 and the 550 Spyder, nicknamed "The Giant Killer" because of its wins against the more established racers from Mercedes-Benz. Porsche's then-radical mid-mounted engine spawned a legacy still alive and enjoyed in today's iconic Porsche 911 and Boxster. It's that long-standing credibility and consistency that allows Porsche to believably advertise its "philosophy" of using what its engineers learn from winning race car competitions to make their cars for the street "more responsive, more reliable and more exhilarating."
The philosophy was set forth by company founder Ferdinand Porsche, and then his heir, Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche. And though Dr. Porsche died in 1951, most Porsche owners even today have a sense that they are driving a machine that bears the handprints of the master. Porsche's factories are among the most innovative and technologically advanced in the industry. But to sit in a Porsche, particularly the iconic 911, step on the accelerator, and feel the feedback of the car in your spine and hands is to feel a sense of handcrafting despite all the technical precision beneath the skin.
For More on Porsche:
Pure Porsche
The Power of Independence
Measuring Brand Value and Values
0 to 60 Q & A with David Pryor
Porsche AG Chairman Dr. Wendelin Wiedeking
