RFI Studios China wins Digital Retainer for Audi's one-make customer racing series, the Audi R8 LMS Cup

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Jun 23, 2015, 09:00 ET

BEIJING, June 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- RFI Studios, the full-service digital arm of Ruder Finn, has won a competitive pitch for the Audi R8 LMS Cup digital retainer in China, further building the agency's global momentum in the automotive sector. The pitch was among international and local agencies in China to provide social media communications for both English and Chinese platforms as well as current website maintenance. The Chinese platforms include Sina Weibo, WeChat, and Youku, in addition to Facebook, Instagram and YouTube English language platforms. RFI will also provide social media crisis management and race weekend on-site social media communications in Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan and China.

Launched in China in 2012, the Audi R8 LMS Cup is the first brand Cup for Audi. The Audi R8 LMS Cup is part of the Audi Sport customer racing Asia program and is organized by Audi China. The Cup features one of the world's best-performing sports cars and provides a thrilling showcase for professional and amateur drivers. In 2013, the Audi Cup raced outside of China for the first time, visiting Malaysia and South Korea. In 2014, the Cup debuted in Japan and Abu Dhabi, and for the first time all races were held on Formula 1 circuits. With the Asia-based sprint race series now in its fourth year of operation, the brand continues its mission to pioneer the development of motorsport in Asia.

Ruder Finn has worked with Audi China since 1999. In 2014, Ruder Finn was selected as the PR agency for the Audi R8 LMS Cup after a pitch among local and international agencies. The agency also provided PR support for Audi Sport customer racing Asia entries in other competitions, including the GT Asia Series, the premier Asian motorsport event.

Roland Wei, Head of RFI Studios China, said: "This is a major, prestigious win for RFI. It validates our creative capabilities and expertise in the global social media landscape. Since RFI's launch in Asia in 2013, we have grown 90%, winning new clients as well as collaborating and supporting all other Ruder Finn offices."

Elan Shou, EVP and Managing Director of Ruder Finn Greater China, said: "This win further demonstrates our legacy in motorsports tradition and digital communications. RFI is very much part of our seamless cross-team and cross-office collaborations, ensuring we provide the highly integrated communications work required by clients."

Kathy Bloomgarden, CEO of Ruder Finn, said: "We are proud of our longstanding partnership with Audi. Our new digital assignment builds on our strong capabilities in social media and community management in the dynamic consumer sector in China, especially as it experiences rapid changes with urbanization and the expansion of the middle class. Our new assignment further expands our impressive global portfolio of consumer clients, and underscores our luxury experience, and extensive automotive capabilities."

About Ruder Finn Innovation Studios (RFI)
In 1999, Ruder Finn was one of the first agencies to establish an in-house, full-service digital practice. Today, this practice has evolved into the award-winning, full service digital marketing shop, RFI Studios. In 2013, RFI was incorporated into Ruder Finn Asia to service the growing social media needs of the region. RFI is anchored in rigorous user-experience research with execution based on real-time metrics. Our technology solutions are simple and elegant and built to scale across current and emerging platforms. We provide a strategic, in-depth approach for our clients to take part in dialogues on the Internet in a transparent way. We call it the "4E," which stands for Ethics, Education, Endorsement and Engagement. Our deep experience in the digital world helps our clients to expand their communications strategy to the new social world, whether it involves website creation, conversation monitoring, e-influencers management, online community building, content development or promotion. In Asia RFI key clients includes: Novartis, AstraZeneca, Volkswagen, Audi, Cadillac, Cartier. www.rfistudios.com

For further information, please contact:

Meagan Sloan
Ruder Finn, Inc.
(212) 583-2760
[email protected]

About Ruder Finn Asia
Founded in 1989, Ruder Finn Asia is the Asia-Pacific subsidiary of New York-based Ruder Finn (www.ruderfinn.com), the leading independent global public relations consulting firm. Growing at an average of 25 percent every year since 2000, Ruder Finn Asia today employs close to 300 consultants in Asia-Pacific and has offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mumbai, New Delhi and Bangalore. The firm is represented across all other regional markets through a network of high quality affiliates. Ruder Finn Asia's business centres on four strategic pillars: Corporate & Public Trust, Global Connectivity, Health & Wellness and Life+Style. The firm offers expertise in reputation management, digital and social marketing strategy, crisis communication, employee engagement, design and executive skills training. Ruder Finn has dedicated teams for digital strategy (RFI), CSR, arts, culture and activation, providing insights and counsel into market trends, including annual research reports including the China Luxury Forecast, Physicians Digital Outlook Survey and other publications Delivering award-winning innovative, strategic public relations campaigns, Ruder Finn Asia's key clients include Michelin, L'Oréal, Sanofi, Daiichi Sankyo, Omron, Emirates Airline, Jumeirah, Cartier, Volkswagen Group, Hermès, GSK, Cotton Inc, Bang & Olufsen, and leading brands from the Kering, LVMH and Richemont Groups. For more information, please visit www.ruderfinnasia.com or cn.ruderfinnasia.com.