Sandbox VR Experience
Audi Norway
Issue 43 | June 2017
Agency
POL Norway, MediaMonks
Creative Team
POL Norway
Production Team
MediaMonks
Date
February 2017
Background
To show that Audi's technological edge was not just in their cars but in the brand's DNA, Audi Norway wanted its campaign for the new Audi Q5 to reflect their commitment to technology. The brief was to give Audi dealers something truly cool and innovative that would reach far beyond the dealerships through social and PR.
Idea
The experience started with the thought, wouldn't it be cool if you could drive a car in the tracks you once made in the sandbox as a kid?
An installation was built with a sandbox in which visitors could shape their own personal driving environment by shifting sand to create tracks, jumps and even mud pools.
Having designed their personal track, by donning an Oculus Rift headset they could then experience it in 3D at the wheel of a virtual Q5.
The driving experience was designed to simulate a real-life drive, complete with feedback from the Audi Q5 steering wheel and the actual car (engine) sounds.
The campaign launched with a TV commercial and an online video as well as a making-of film.
Results
The new Audi Q5 became the best-selling Audi in Norway. Audi dealers reported a 57% increase in visitors during the tour dates of the Sandbox. Enter The Sandbox was "the most successful campaign from Audi Norway ever" (Tommy Jensen, Audi Norway).
There was massive media coverage in Norway and abroad, with features by Wired, TopGear, PSFK, FastCompany and Deutsche Welle. Deutsche Welle shared the campaign on Facebook. This video alone amassed over 4 million views in a month.
Over 49,218 people shared the campaign on their Facebook profile.
Our Thoughts
By rooting this idea firmly in a sense of nostalgia for our distant childhood, this idea has a powerful human insight, I think. Which is, not only does it remind us of a time when our driving pleasures were altogether simpler but it also plays to the simple truth that most of us still regard our cars as big, shiny toys – even if we don't make brrrm-brrrm noises any more.
What this does is make Audis seem much more fun to drive than any TV spot with an upbeat, 'fun' soundtrack.