‘Play the Road’ was a project that combined cutting edge technology innovation and top class content creation to show how a car could make music – and put the GTI’s reputation for innovation ahead of the competition.

An innovative mobile application translated the car’s movements into music, using musical “stems” composed by electronic music pioneers Underworld, which would trigger according to the movement and speed of the car, allowing the driver to create music based on the way they drive.

We then filmed a live performance of the piece by the GTI and a driver.

We guaranteed mass distribution through an extensive seeding campaign across a range of channels, including YouTube (following tech, music and car content), social outreach, and Volkswagen’s own social platforms, with engagement driven further by a competition giving drivers an opportunity to perform their own version of Underworld’s music in the GTI at an exclusive Track Day.

The campaign had impressive immediate results:

• Over 3.6 million video views

• 2000 mentions on Twitter

• perceptions of innovation increased +6%

• ‘brand I’d like to own’ increased +14%

• ‘brand leader’ increased +6%

Extensive consumer PR coverage was achieved; ensuring ‘Play the Road’ had scale beyond our paid, owned and earned plan. With highlights including Soccer AM, BBC Click and FHM, coverage achieved a reach of 185m at a value of £628k- that’s £6.34 for every £1 spent!

Most tangibly, orders of GTIs across 2013 were three times greater than predicted.