automotive

Land Rover Sets Off On 'Race The Sun'

landroverLand Rover this week rolls out its next adventure-focused campaign for the 2014 Range Rover Sport. The effort, called "Race the Sun," follows on the heels of an integrated campaign with Outside magazine tracking the exploits of endurance athletes and entrepreneurs. 

Central to the new campaign, running through December, is a narrative film on which is superimposed an interactive component that lets viewers "test drive" the Range Rover Sport within the context of the storyline. 

Specifically, the platform lets users experiment with the vehicle's powertrain and handling elements via three environments  — off-road capability, on-road acceleration, and handling — that figure into the story about a guy who has to reach a destination by sundown. 

advertisement

advertisement

Kim Kyaw, digital marketing & social media manager at Land Rover North America, tells Marketing Daily that the "Race the Sun" program, which lives on Land Rover's consumer site, had a soft launch last week with print and mobile elements focused on Range Rover Sport's acceleration capabilities. 

She points out that the platform works by giving consumers a couple of options when they reach the splash page: synch by phone via digital code, thereby allowing interaction via mobile to control and experiment with vehicle during specific points in the story; or by lap-top or desk-top keyboard controls. "The point is to superimpose the interactive elements into the story line," she says, adding that the 2:30 film was shot in locations in Northern California and Nevada. 

Kyaw says interaction is key to the effort, and having a mobile route to participation was a critical piece of the creative puzzle. "Right now, mobile is really important for us; the target is digitally savvy, and the more they interact the more likely they are to research the vehicle even further. So instead of just watching, we want to make them part of the experience." 

Ken Bracht, communications manager, Land Rover North America, tells Marketing Daily that the film delivers its message effectively even if people simply watch it. "We have really elevated the bar in terms of production value for this film."

She says Land Rover will traffic consumers to the experience through banners and homepage takeovers on sites like ABC's Today.com and WashingtonPost.com and video channels like YouTube. The ads have embedded pre-roll eight-second videos asking consumers to “Make Your Move” by click-to-play. Says Bracht: "The basic strategy with all of our digital is to have people interact with us where they already are." 

Television ads for the second-generation Range Rover Sport started mid-September, supported by print and a light digital component with a "Driven to Another Level" message. "Range Rover Sport consumers are people who are ‘in the game.' They are people who have already accomplished a lot in their lives but are still striving and working toward ambitious goals," says Kyaw, of the advertising theme. 

The campaign was developed collaboratively by Wonderman, Y&R, and production companies MJZ and Stink Digital. The film was directed by MJZ’s Dante Ariola, who has done work for Coca-Cola, Jim Bean and Volkswagen, among others. "Lots of parties came together to make it seamless," he says. Mindshare handles digital.

Next story loading loading..