Insight, strategy and the idea:
The pro_cee’d GT is the first high-performance model in the Kia range. Consequently, the brand was dealing with a new group of buyers that wasn’t yet familiar with Kia and its products. They are young, dynamic and almost exclusively male.
Our biggest challenge was making sure we caught the attention of this digitally advanced target group in the first place. They’re always online and constantly on the lookout for genuinely new innovations. Additionally, they’re extremely into gaming and – most importantly – difficult to reach via traditional media.
The idea: a viral gaming app that reflects all the characteristics of the pro_cee’d GT itself: dynamism, sportiness and innovation. With the aim of encouraging our target group to get to know the brand and product in a playful way, enjoy themselves along the way and recommend the app to their friends.
EXECUTION: GT RIDE is a mobile racing game where you build your own unique race track by moving your smartphone through the air. The axis sensor inside your smartphone or tablet records the positioning data, which the app uses to calculate an individual 3D track.
Having raced this track, you can send it as a challenge to your Facebook friends. It can be played on smartphones, tablets, the GT RIDE website and Facebook – worldwide on iOS and Android.
As an incentive, users were entered into a competition to win a real pro_cee’d GT during the first campaign phase.
RESULTS: Until now the app was downloaded 150,000 times. In France and Spain, GT RIDE entered the Top 10 free apps ranking in the first week. The popular “Android Mag” named it App of the Month straight after its launch.
A GT Ride Facebook Community was quickly formed: more than 20,000 Facebook users sent over 70,000 tracks and took part in over 250,000 racing challenges.
The app hit a nerve with users and turned them into brand ambassadors. It was even more successful than Kia had anticipated. As a result, it featured subsequently as a kinect version at the 2013 Frankfurt and 2014 Geneva Motor Show, and will be making an appearance at the Paris Motor Show 2014.