Every now and again one comes across an ambitious interactive campaign which has so many technical challenges and potential difficulties that you’d understand if the initial idea never made it off the starting blocks.
So you have to admire this Brazilian campaign created by Agencia Click for Fiat Punto who have ingeniously managed to create a virtual online racing game with a rather unusual twist. Instead of your opponent being another online gamer you are actually competing against a real racing driver on an actual circuit.
Using various data feeds, GPS tracking, on-board cameras and CGI modelling they have managed to integrate the real car into the virtual racing game so that one can effectively test one’s driving skills against the professional driver.
I can’t tell how they organised the online event as the T-racer website is mostly in Portuguese I’m afraid. However, they did manage to maximise publicity for this campaign by creating a life-size simulator and convincing Big Brother to use this for one of the challenges in the show. Not a bad way to generate some extra PR!
Online contestant
Simulator on Big Brother
The professional racing driver
The real car
The real car as seen by the online contestant
Viewpoint
We’ve all seen racing games before. But what sets this campaign apart is the way it succeeds in blurring the lines between reality and the virtual world to create a new consumer experience which captures the public’s imagination.
What I also like about this campaign is how it seamlessly combines interactive marketing, digital live events, experiential marketing and PR all rolled into one! Not as easy as it sounds.
It takes agency dedication, commitment, meticulous planning and technical expertise, not to mention a brave client to see something like this through to fruition. So I was pleased to see it’s won Grand Prix at Wave in recognition for their efforts to go that extra mile.
You can watch the video here if you want to know more although you may need to brush up on your Portuguese first!
