The Brief

We were given the task to create a campaign that would leverage Audi’s participation at the most grueling endurance race ‘The 24 Hours of Le Mans 2011’ and take the opportunity to increase awareness about Audi’s Ultra lightweight technology. And of course, garner more fans and support for team Audi at the race.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We created www.audi-lemans.in; a time-bound interactive microsite that would stay live only for the duration of the race. This microsite was designed as a 24-hour online race where the Audi R18 TDI was racing, but with a difference. Participants were asked to blow into the microphone to experience the feature of the Audi R18 TDI that made the car a favorite to win at Le Mans. Every time he/she blew into the microphone, the ultra-light car would react to the intensity of the blow and glide forward, while a counter would flash the distance travelled by the car. The mission: ‘push’ the ultra lightweight Audi R18 TDI to victory by covering the distance traveled by the cars at Le Mans.

Describe the success of the promotion with both client and consumer including some quantifiable results

After just 24-hours, we had 414,341 unique visitors who had participated in this online race. And with their help our online Audi R18 TDI had not just travelled the 6,000 kilometers of Le Mans but had covered an astonishing 62,151 kilometers. That’s over ten-times the total distance travelled by the winning Audi at Le Mans. Facebook alone received 626,936 impressions, the web-banners received 312,180 impressions and over 47,000 shares. All within a span of 24 hours flat.

Explain why the method of promotion was most relevant to the product or service

By enabling participants to blow into the microphone and push forward the car, the most important feature of the Audi R18 was brought to the fore. A car so light, it could be pushed by the lightest breath. Users were briefed on the mission of this online race. And asked to invite friends and garner more support to get the Audi R18 TDI online to cover the distance traveled by the cars at Le Mans. A countdown timer added to the thrill and indicated the time remaining until the checkered flag People could post and share this microsite on Facebook, Twitter and other social media networks to invite friends to come and help push the Audi team to victory.