The Brief

GM was introducing the Buick Encore to the crowded China market, and needed a way to get noticed. In China, while the SUV is a cherished commodity, it seldom leaves the city. So GM needed to find a way that would connect with the 30-something target and bring out the fun of exploring —urban style.

Describe how the promotion developed from concept to implementation

We re-invented the most traditional kids' game with a location-based mobile game app that turned the target's neighborhoods into the world's biggest ever game of Hide 'n' Seek, this time players looked for a virtual Buick Encore. Once players found car, they had 3 minutes to hide it anywhere they liked. And after seven days, the person— in each of the 16 participating cities— who kept it hidden the longest period of time won a new Buick Encore.

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

487,000 downloaded the app, making it a top-20 app for 7 straight weeks. The Encore was hidden over 8,500 times. The campaign received over 4 million comments and re-tweets, and increased Encore Weibo (China's Twitter) followers by over 30%, or 65,000. And their 6-months sales targets were met in just 6 weeks after the game began!

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

When this savvy, city-slicker target were kids, these Chinese cities were truly concrete jungles where the backstreets and alleyways were their playgrounds. So to capture their attention and bring back the fun and adventure of their childhood, the modern, smart-phone-assisted game came to life. It linked the target's childhood exploration perfectly with the SUVs proposition.