The louder you are, the faster you go
Issue 13 | December 2009
Agency
DraftFCB New Zealand
Creative Team
Creative Director: Tony Clewett, Interactive Designer: Jared Isle, Copywriter: Antony Wilson, Art Director: Rory McKechnie
Production Team
Production Manager: Jason Jones, Illustrator: James Stewart
Other Credits
Account Director: Jane Wardlaw, Account Manager: Katie Loverich
Date
5th to 17th October 2009
Background
Top Gear is the ultimate toys-for-boys TV show and is Prime TV’s top-rating programme. With the new season just about to launch, there was a need for some noise (well, quite a bit).
Idea
This interactive banner lets you drive a car around the iconic Top Gear track by making all those noises you made with your toys when you were a kid. Vrrooom and roarrrr.
Your car in the banner gets connected to the microphone of your computer. The louder and longer you make revving noises, the better your laptime. Do well, and the banner applauds you. Do poorly, and you are deservedly mocked. Of course, loudly impersonating a V8 at work means you’re going to be mocked either way.
Give it a try:
apps.eyewonderlabs.com/adWdrVideoSpace/ad/78208/approvalJSTags.html
Results
The overall interaction rate was 22.82%, almost three times higher than the global average for automotive/entertainment. In fact, twice as many people played the game right to the end than would usually click on a banner at all. All this while requiring users to use a microphone to interact. As an added bonus, ratings of the show jumped 500%
Our Thoughts
When I started making the sounds of a single-carburettor, bored-out 3-litre 1968 Shelby Mustang, it caused some consternation in the office. Consigned as I am these days to driving a battered Ford Focus, this game succeeds brilliantly in capturing the essence of Top Gear, which is a mix of fantasy and childish fun. Needless to say, Dorte, Directory’s sales director and also my wife, thought both the game and her husband were utterly pathetic.
Precisely!