Beyond the limits of imagination: Toyota Verso-S campaign
Three months implementation time, 6000 draughts in only four weeks and more than four minutes spent on the site per unique user. The numbers attained for Toyota by Goldbach Interactive's "Colour your Verso-S" campaign are impressive.
For six years, Toyota was represented on the market with no mini-van models: Reason enough to widely promote the introduction of the new, nearly four meters long, Toyota Verso-S in a communication campaign.
The requirements of Toyota in the online campaign were:
- Announcement and emotional appeal of the new model Verso-S and to increase its relevance within the core target group of 'Families'
- Cross-media networking on the formal and thematic level, and cross-promotion for the online campaign
- Generation of voters, leads and test drive applications prior to the launch
Toyota provided the initiative to hold a competition for the whole family, Goldbach Interactive impressed them with a simple yet captivating idea: the online creative competition "Colour your Verso-S" with a promising hook - the self-designed Toyota Verso-S as the top prize.
The eye wins
"Colour your Verso-S" is fully committed to visuality: Firstly, the campaign design glows in all colours. Secondly, the confident and technically sophisticated graphic design tool, with which the participants make their Verso-S. No wonder then, that the micro-site color-your-verso-s.ch, together with the design tool was at the heart of online promotion. The micro-site allows for various involvement levels: from the intense engagement with the Verso-S product with one's own design to the semi-active participation as voters and purely informative visits. The test drive and the recommendation form and information material are integrated for download on all sub-pages of the contest microsite. Thus, even website visitors who do not participate in the competition itself, become valuable leads.
Awakening cross-media desires
Various advertising media lines, including special formats advertise in three languages to attract the attention of the target group for the promotion: Whether rapidly changing designs, colour explosions or Verso S flash on the banner, they all attract the attention of users - something is always moving in the advert. The campaign has been optimised using the campaign management tools TAO (Track - Analyse - Optimise).
A Facebook fansite linked with the campaign microsite complements the on-line measures and extends the communication environment: Among other things the visitor can see the latest designs and the participants go from there to the creative competition on the microsite. The Facebook integration is one of the key components of the campaign, as Facebook Connect makes it easier for participants to gather votes for their design. They just post the design on the Facebook pin board and let their friends to vote for it.
Parctipation in the competition took a sharp upturn after the busy Motor Show weekend.
The cross-media approach goes a step further: In the context of the 81st
International Motor Show in Geneva Goldbach Interactive designed advertisements that have been adapted for offline use. The exhibition visitors had on two computers on which they could layout their designs and the campaign subject - the blue Verso-S with splashes of colour - could be admired there by all, live. Assessment reports from the campaign management tool TAO clearly show the link between on-and offline media: During and after the very busy weekend, participation in the competition took a sharp upturn.
Guarantees virality
The fact that it is not the most beautiful design, but with the one with most votes that wins the Verso-S or any of the other prizes, ensures high virality. Because only those who manage to persuade their friends and acquaintances to vote, have a real chance of winning. Once on the contest microsite, many voters decide to upload a design themselves.
Toyota is more then satisfied with their cooperation with Goldbach Interactive and the campaign.
A design tool that wins you over
There were many challenges in the implementation of the Car-Designer Tools for "Colour your Verso-S": The user-friendliness needed to be very high, so that participants can also find their way around very quickly without any previous knowledge. At the same time you can attain a satisfactory design outcome within just a few minutes. That's more than successful: predefined shapes such as stars, hearts and hands, or the ability to throw paint balloons and thereby to obtain a random result, make designing fun.
The clear toolbar with easy to understand icons including application design tips means that even a novice can approach the car design in a playful way. For participants who are familiar with design programmes, there are functions such as proportional scaling by holding the shift key or 45-degree rotation, which are known from other graphics programmes. Selected elements can be moved using the cursor keys or deleted with the Delete button. It is also possible to upload designs previously created in another programme.
During the development of the Car Designer, Goldbach Interactive decided for vector elements and against pixel elements. The advantage: each element can be altered, moved or deleted. The participant has the opportunity to flexibly adapt his/her design before completion.
The Car Designer is characterised by several features:
* The light and shaded parts on the verso S remain the same even if a complete design is uploaded
* Smooth lines with the integration of smoothing algorithm Soft
* If the cursor is moved faster, the line becomes thicker as in reality
The flash design tool fits seamlessly into the microsite and guarantees each participant a brief moment of "fame" because all the design attempts are prominently visible on the homepage and in the gallery. The Car Designer with its functionality is not used as an end to itself, but pays in full to the Toyota Verso-S brand.