Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion: "Roulette" TV Commercial by TRY & APT

Type of entry: Use of Promo & Activation
Category: Best Online Advertising in a Promotional Campaign
Advertiser: VOLKSWAGEN
Product/Service: GOLF BLUEMOTION
Agency: TRY/APT ADVERTISING AGENCY Oslo, NORWAY
Advertiser VOLKSWAGEN
Product GOLF BLUEMOTION
Entrant TRY/APT ADVERTISING AGENCY Oslo, NORWAY
Type of Entry: Use of Promo & Activation
Category: Best Online Advertising in a Promotional Campaign
Title: BLUEMOTION ROULETTE
Advertiser/Client: VOLKSWAGEN
Product/Service: GOLF BLUEMOTION
Entrant Company: TRY/APT ADVERTISING AGENCY Oslo, NORWAY
DM/Advertising Agency: TRY/APT ADVERTISING AGENCY Oslo, NORWAY

Copywriter: Petter Bryde (TRY/APT)
Art Director: Thorbjørn Ruud (TRY/APT)
Art Director: Markus Lind (TRY/APT)
Copywriter: Anders Holm (TRY/APT)
Copywriter: Sebastian Prestø (TRY/APT)
Copywriter: Eva Sannum (TRY/APT)
Developer: Emil Jönsson (TRY/APT)
Developer: Anders Stalheim Øfsdahl (TRY/APT)
Developer: Knut Skåla (TRY/APT)
Project Manager: Cecilie Fasbender (TRY/APT)
Project Manager: Cathrine Wennersten (TRY/APT)
Account Manager: Ole Hustad (TRY/APT)
Account Manager: Morten Polmar (TRY/APT)
Motion Graphic Artist: Miran Kevic (Freelance)
Music Production Company: Plan8 (Plan8)
3D/Motion And Tvc: Gimpville (Gimpville)

Describe the brief from the client
The objective of the promotion was to take the main benefit of the Golf BlueMotion, its low fuel consumption, and turn it into something memorable and entertaining. An abstract product feature like that is difficult to explain in an ad in an engaging way, so we decided to create a game of roulette where people could bet on how far the car would get on a single tank of fuel. That way the audience was 'forced' to learn about the car and the BlueMotion technology since they could only bet once.




Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.



We turned E6, the Norwegian equivalent to route 66 - into a roulette board using google maps and Street View. A TV commercial and banner ads informed Norway that a Golf BlueMotion would drive northbound from Oslo. People were invited to place their bet on where the car would run out of fuel. If you guessed correctly you would win the car. We then broadcasted the car's position, speed and fuel level to more than 50,000 Norwegians following the event live on our campaign site. The car stopped 1,570 kilometres north of Oslo, making Knud Hillers the lucky winner.




Describe the results in as much detail as possible.



160,000 people visited bluemotion.no during the campaign (May 1st–30th). More than 40,000 people placed their bet, and almost 50,000 followed the 27-hour-long drive from Oslo to Narvik. During the drive, we answered almost 6,000 Facebook posts from eager spectators. PS! Norway is a small country.




A phrase like '0.38 litres of diesel per metric mile' doesn´t make any sense unless it is put into context in a way that engages the consumer. Therefore the game of roulette was created on the most used road in Norway, and the car's journey broadcasted live via social media and GPS on Google maps. This way the audience and potentital buyers could interact directly with the brand, getting first-hand knowledge of the car's fuel consumption in an entertaining and authentic way.