Are Scandinavians just more fun? From the same region that introduced the world to interactive billboards and the Speed Camera Lottery, Norway’s Volkswagen just completed a campaign that uses a game to demonstrate the fuel efficiency of the new Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion. The question the campaign set out to answer was how do you make an abstract advantage both concrete and memorable? What does 0.038L/km (61.9mpg) mean in real terms? To answer that question, Volkswagen took a 2000km stretch of highway and transformed it into a roulette table.
The campaign took the E6 highway that stretches north from Oslo and broke it up into 80,000 car length roulette slots. 50,000 participants placed their bets on where they thought the Golf would finally run out of gas. If you placed your bet right, you would win the car. Participants had to research the car’s statistics and the BlueMotion technology in order to make an educated guess as to where it would finally roll to a stop. Whats your bet? With .038L/km and a 55L tank where would you put your chips? The car actually ended up going 1570km which averages out to better fuel efficiency than predicted.
The end reward was important, but the game itself hit the right chord amongst car buffs by demanding research into stats and knowledge of the terrain in order to get the right answer. This demonstrates how challenges and rewards can be well integrated with the brand in order to engage players.
Gamification Co will be hosting it’s second Gamification Summit in New York on September 15-16. Join keynotes from Gilt Groupe CEO Alexandra Wilkis Wilson and 42 Entertainment’s founder, Susan Bonds, to learn how the new science of engagement is rewriting the rules of product design. We are also offering the first ever Certificate in Gamification. For Gamification Blog readers, use discount code GCOBLOG for 25% off at http://gsummit.com/register. We look forward to seeing you there!
