Audi store engages TikTok users to sell cars

AJ Harb is general manager of Audi Milwaukee, but on the video-driven social platform TikTok, he's simply known as "The Boss."

Harb regularly appears on the dealership's rapidly growing TikTok account doing vehicle walk-arounds — sitting in the driver's seat of an S8 to show off its horsepower or the back seat of an A8 to joke that he looks 6-foot-5 when he's actually 5-foot-6.

While many viewers ask about the products, some throw playful barbs at Harb, critiquing the videos and his fashion choices.

"The people in the comments, they kind of roast him, but he gets a kick out of it," said Matt Abramczyk, the store's social media manager who runs the account. "People always are talking about his outfits or the stuff he does. I think that might be another part of the popularity of the videos. He is a character. People might come for the cars, and they might come for him, too."

Audi Milwaukee is definitely having fun with the TikTok community, but the store isn't on the app just to hang out. It's a tool that Harb said can grab the attention of consumers across the U.S., reeling in buyers through videos that cost nothing to produce and take little time to create.

The store already has sold two vehicles, an RS 7 and an S8, that it can attribute directly to TikTok. The RS 7 buyer came in after his son saw the dealership's video about the car and told him about it.

The RS 7, a 2015 model, even drew attention from outside Wisconsin — a San Diego man called the store to inquire about it. Harb believes showcasing his products in this way could prove useful during the microchip shortage, with inventories low and people researching vehicles outside their home markets.

"If you start reading the comments, you'll see people from all over the United States," Harb said.

Harb's kids inspired him to try TikTok after filming him one day and unsuspectingly creating a video. He also noticed younger staffers using the app.

Given the inventory shortage, Harb believed the store could use the platform to grab some attention for the vehicles it does have in stock. The dealership started uploading videos in May and quickly developed a following as its posts drew hundreds of thousands of views.

Not all videos feature Harb. Abramczyk has been keeping up with trends on the site to help drive the creativity of the mini productions.

For instance, Abramczyk noticed people were creating videos in which cars appear out of nowhere, such as in the Grand Theft Auto V video game when players call their mechanic. So Abramczyk did the same with an R8 and got about 30,000 views on the resulting video.

"It's kind of hard nowadays to create truly original content, but that's not what everybody really wants to see," Abramczyk said. "Some people like to see the same content, but with an original twist on it. I didn't make up that video, but I put my own twist to it. And that's kind of what people like."

The store's viral king, a video in which the wraps are taken off a new S8, is closing in on 8 million views since being posted Aug. 8.

Harb's turns as "The Boss" are getting him recognized. When he took his kids to breakfast one morning, the restaurant's hostess knew him from the videos. His children now think he's famous, Harb said.

Harb believes TikTok has given the store a voice.

"This was done with a purpose," Harb said. "There's a reason for what we're doing, and it's not just to be on TikTok. We try to capture some attention, we're putting some specific cars out there, we're allowing people to comment, but it's really done with a purpose at the end of the day. We're selling some cars from it and getting to stay on people's mind."