In a nation where every piece of entertainment gets censored by the government before it reaches the people, China can sometimes be a difficult place for creativity to flourish. Fortunately, the rise of the Internet in China has bred a new generation of people that consumes and creates content in new, innovative ways. According to a 2013 report from Forrester Research, “Chinese online adults are the most socially active among any of the countries surveyed worldwide, and 97% of metropolitan Chinese online adults use social tools.”

This shift in media consumption has changed the way brands interact with their consumers. Brands in China are increasingly making content that their consumers seek out online, share to their social networks, and sometimes remix, rather than ignore. It was a strategic move on Volkswagen China’s part to create branded entertainment for its digital native audience.

The People’s Car Project online platform, www.zaoche.cn, gave the Chinese people tools to create car ideas, vote for their favorite designs, and share content to their social networks. After a two-year dialog with the People’s Car Project community, 30 million people submitted over 260,000 car ideas. As an epic conclusion to the project, we had to take all these ideas and create one car.

In 2013, Volkswagen created an online series where they invited the top automotive design students in China to compete and build the People’s Car. Over 10 episodes, the student teams took 104 of the best ideas from the people and created concept sketches, clay models, and 3D renderings.

Volkswagen’s Director of Design Simon Loasby mentored the students and oversaw the car-building process. Leaders from various creative fields also gave the students guidance: Fashion designer Vega Wang helped design the car interior, director Jia Zhangke included one team’s design in his short film, and Chinese pop idol Bibi Zhou became the voice of the People’s Car.

This was truly a collaboration between Volkswagen and the entire nation of China.

Finally, one design was chosen to be the People’s Car and the winning students were granted internships at Volkswagen. At the 2013 Shanghai Auto, Volkswagen unveiled the People’s Car, accompanied with its very own commercial. Online audiences and the press alike saw how the people’s ideas integrated into the features of the People’s Car.

The People’s Car – the first car created by the people, for the people – became a call to the automotive industry to revolutionize how cars should be made in the future.

In 2011, Volkswagen launched the People’s Car Project to inspire the people of China to create new ideas for cars. In 2013, Volkswagen built a car inspired by the people’s ideas over a 10-part online series. The series aired on our website, www.zaoche.cn, and on China’s biggest video sites.

An integrated social strategy attracted viewership. Celebrities featured in the series regularly posted behind-the-scenes content on Weibo (Chinese Twitter) to stir discussions about the future of cars. The series was also accompanied by the People’s Choice, a digital poll that invited viewers to vote for their favorite designs each episode.

The 10-part online series averaged 1.2 million viewers per episode, boosting the rate of new followers on social media by 300%.* The People’s Car became a top 10 trending topic on Weibo (China’s Twitter).** As a result, Volkswagen purchase intent increased by 18%.*

The People’s Car was the first Volkswagen created by the people of China. With 260,000 user ideas inspiring its final design, the People’s Car became the biggest crowdsourced product in history.***

* Source: PCP User Database Report, 2013

** Source: Sina Weibo Daily Trending Topics Ranking, Feb 27th, 2013

*** Source: T+D Reporting and Analytics