Velocity India and Hakuhodo Percept Turn Ignis Cars into Joysticks for Maruti Suzuki

by  Shantanu Jain Marketing | August 21, 2017 | News

Velocity Hakuhodo Percept Maruti Suzuki

From times immemorial test drives of cars have remained the ultimate experiential engagement technique used by automobile brands to woo target audiences. However, Velocity India and Hakuhodo Percept took the idea of a simple ‘Test Drive Activity’ and turned it around completely to create a one of a kind brand experience called ‘The Ignis Drive Challenge.’

The Ignis Drive Challenge (IDC) is a Pan-India activation by brand Maruti Suzuki. The experiential engagement is an extension of its recently launched brand campaign, ‘None of a Kind’.

The ‘None of a Kind’ campaign, primarily designed to convey the ‘Uniqueness’’ Maruti Ignis stands for, has now gone from strength to strength, post the unconventional manner in which ‘Ignis Drive Challenge’ (IDC) was conceptualised, planned and executed across the country jointly by Velocity India and Hakuhodo Percept.

Maruti Suzuki India through the challenge wanted to create an experience like none other for promoting the automatic car. The result was the popular air hockey game being played on a widescreen amongst participating challengers, having an exciting time testing the capacity of the car, with the Ignis cars being transformed into live joysticks.

Within a fortnight, the IDC zoomed across major Indian cities igniting its malls on weekends. People gathered to admire the new Ignis and its unconventional design, while also testing the nerves of this machine through participating in a real time gaming experience. More than 1500 people sat behind the wheels to test the game and the car with 225 participants recorded in a single location per day. Not to mention the 2 lakh people who vicariously participated and enjoyed the challenge, as audience and cheered.

The thrill of competition and the real-time play turned this virtual game inspired from air hockey, different from the programmed test drive routines and appealed immensely to the millennial generation, the primary TG for the car. The construct of the game promoted the automatic version, seamlessly integrating it with “The Choice is Automatic” proposition for the car. Sensors placed on the car helped the riders experience the game real-time while it was projected on the wide screen in front of them.

“Though technology and safety elements were the most critical components of the entire activity, it never diluted the core objective, viz. hands-on product experience,” says Sabuj Sen Gupta, National Creative Director, Hakuhodo Percept.

“The enthusiasm & excitement exuded by anyone who witnessed the activity was infectious and that was exactly what we set out to achieve. We wanted to engage the participants and the audience, with the test drive effortlessly blended in game-play, hoping to create a lasting differentiated experience. After all, that’s what the car is all about!” adds Aril Sharma, Managing Director – Velocity India.

“In Maruti Suzuki portfolio  IGNIS has been a  game changer and a segment creator and we had in our minds something more than just a fancy display and a routine test drive. We were clear that the activity should be in sync with the core philosophy of Ignis: ‘unconventional’. We wanted consumers to relate to this uniqueness of the brand while enjoying its energy and passion. This was our barometer of success, and the results were amazing. At Maruti, we are really happy with the way this activity has been accomplished. Kudos to everyone involved in this passionate event and perfect execution,” remarkedSanjeev Handa, Vice President-Marketing, Maruti Suzuki India.