Porsche Blind Trade

Background

Porsche was launching the new Macan in The Netherlands. A small SUV, it might not have been everyone's idea of what a Porsche should be.

To position the new model as a true Porsche, something to aspire to, the brand needed a campaign that would arouse the interest of all drivers of prestige cars.

There was an insight to help inform the idea and that was previous new Porsches had been pre-ordered on a remarkable scale, people buying the car long before it got into the showrooms solely on the photos. (In the launch phase, 40% of all Panameras were bought sight-unseen.)

Idea

Over a period of 20 days, drivers were offered the chance to swop their car for a new Porsche. Every two days, a new feature of the car was revealed in a series of online films. The earlier people traded their cars for the new Porsche, the higher their chances were of actually making the swap.

The blind trade challenge was supported with online advertising (social/email/ banners) and offline, print ads and digital outdoor revealing the new car bit by bit.

Using the rules of gaming, which rewards risk-taking, the campaign supported the new Macan's positioning as a car for those with a more daring mindset and allowed Porsche to broaden their database of prospective Porsche owners, people who provided details of their personal profiles and the cars they drove.

Results

There was an immediate buzz around the idea of the blind trade, which triggered 2,500 people to trade their cars in the first hour.

50 marketing blogs and magazines ran the story (worth €125,000) leading to more online speculation. In total, over the three week campaign period, 150,000 people visited the website. 15,000 cars worth some €90 million were traded, including a Bentley and a Ferrari. 3,000 luxury cars worth over €30,000 each were offered for swap. There were 7,500 requests for more information about the new Macan, 1,500 of which were high-quality leads.

The Macan was traded for a 2013 BMW.

Our Thoughts

If you were looking for a case history to illustrate how gamification is getting to play an ever increasing role in advertising, this is it. Based on a brilliant insight, that people who drive fast cars enjoy risk, it is nothing more and nothing less than a gamble. Do you dare bet your current car against a Porsche you’ve never seen?

I would certainly have bet my ancient Ford Focus but, reversing the trade, would you have traded your Jaguar (as 42 people did) for a new Ford? No, thought not. That’s why this idea is brilliant. Not only does it ‘get’ the sort of people who need to drive luxury cars, it also ‘gets’ the Porsche brand perfectly, positioning the Macan as being a lot more desirable than a small SUV really ought to be.