REAL RACING GTI / THE STRATEGY BEHIND THE APP
3 November 2009
You may remember last week we reported on Volkswagen US' somewhat maverick launch of the new MkVI Golf GTI via just one free iPhone application - on a total budget of roughly $500,000. Since then Contagious has caught up with Charlie Taylor - general manager of digital marketing at VW US who gave us the skinny on the campaign's conception as well as a few juicy Week 1 results...
- Brand
- Volkswagen
- Media Type
- Mobile
- Product Category
- Automotive
- Source
- News
- Tags
- Volkswagen
- Mobile
- Apps
- Launch
Contagious:
The Golf GTI is one of Volkswagen's most iconic models - what made you
entrust its launch in a market the size of the US, to just one
application on one platform?
CT: Volkswagen has done a lot of in-depth research, especially surrounding the GTI target consumer, and has found that in many cases, the GTI customer is a tech-savvy individual, who enjoys social networking, playing games, and spending time on mobile devices - in many cases, that device is an iPhone. With the personalisation of media and the difficulty inherent in reaching constantly-connected consumers, we challenged ourselves to rethink the way we launch vehicles in order to engage our consumers in a meaningful way. The Real Racing GTI App for the iPhone / iPod Touch was formed directly out of that thinking and the above-mentioned research, and we believe it's the best way to connect our core customers with the all-new 2010 GTI.
Contagious: So where does this leave the curious consumer without an iPhone?
CT: Though the Real Racing GTI App is exclusive to consumers with an iPhone or iPod Touch, the campaign is successfully being spread by Volkswagen and its partners to the masses through public relations initiatives, overall word of mouth, sharing and playing of the game among enthusiasts, consumers, and gamers, and finally, through some paid online search aspects. The game also has (online) the ability to post videos of your race to YouTube, or share your best time via Facebook, so non-iPhone users are able to see the game in action. In addition, one big focus of the campaign was the six limited-edition GTI MkVI cars. A dimension of urgency and exclusivity was created in these six vehicles which we will be giving away every 7 days for 6 weeks. The six cars were customised with our core VW enthusiast in mind and are another key point of engagement.
Contagious: Can you tell us how successful has the campaign been so far?
CT: The game has taken off since its launch last week - within four days, Real Racing GTI achieved more than 750,000 downloads, and surpassed one million downloads in the first week. In fact, the game is now the #1 free app in the US Apple App Store, and has generated GTI requests from more than 40,000 consumers so far. Also, we are the #1 free app in 35 countries and are in the top 3 every other market. So the global reach has been pretty phenomenal.
Contagious: Impressive - so can we expect similar leaps of marketing faith in the future from VW US?
CT: For Volkswagen, mobile devices and the overall mobile space are the connector we are using, and will definitely continue to use, throughout all of our media assets. Real Racing GTI is an excellent example of how Volkswagen's use of the mobile space can add a new dimension to our efforts for reaching customers, and provides a deeper level of engagement. The game's success so far is exciting, and solidifies Volkswagen's decision to break free from more traditional launch methods and activities, both now and into the future.
www.vw.com/gti/en/us
CT: Volkswagen has done a lot of in-depth research, especially surrounding the GTI target consumer, and has found that in many cases, the GTI customer is a tech-savvy individual, who enjoys social networking, playing games, and spending time on mobile devices - in many cases, that device is an iPhone. With the personalisation of media and the difficulty inherent in reaching constantly-connected consumers, we challenged ourselves to rethink the way we launch vehicles in order to engage our consumers in a meaningful way. The Real Racing GTI App for the iPhone / iPod Touch was formed directly out of that thinking and the above-mentioned research, and we believe it's the best way to connect our core customers with the all-new 2010 GTI.
Contagious: So where does this leave the curious consumer without an iPhone?
CT: Though the Real Racing GTI App is exclusive to consumers with an iPhone or iPod Touch, the campaign is successfully being spread by Volkswagen and its partners to the masses through public relations initiatives, overall word of mouth, sharing and playing of the game among enthusiasts, consumers, and gamers, and finally, through some paid online search aspects. The game also has (online) the ability to post videos of your race to YouTube, or share your best time via Facebook, so non-iPhone users are able to see the game in action. In addition, one big focus of the campaign was the six limited-edition GTI MkVI cars. A dimension of urgency and exclusivity was created in these six vehicles which we will be giving away every 7 days for 6 weeks. The six cars were customised with our core VW enthusiast in mind and are another key point of engagement.
Contagious: Can you tell us how successful has the campaign been so far?
CT: The game has taken off since its launch last week - within four days, Real Racing GTI achieved more than 750,000 downloads, and surpassed one million downloads in the first week. In fact, the game is now the #1 free app in the US Apple App Store, and has generated GTI requests from more than 40,000 consumers so far. Also, we are the #1 free app in 35 countries and are in the top 3 every other market. So the global reach has been pretty phenomenal.
Contagious: Impressive - so can we expect similar leaps of marketing faith in the future from VW US?
CT: For Volkswagen, mobile devices and the overall mobile space are the connector we are using, and will definitely continue to use, throughout all of our media assets. Real Racing GTI is an excellent example of how Volkswagen's use of the mobile space can add a new dimension to our efforts for reaching customers, and provides a deeper level of engagement. The game's success so far is exciting, and solidifies Volkswagen's decision to break free from more traditional launch methods and activities, both now and into the future.
www.vw.com/gti/en/us
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