Mitsubishi Motors North America is launching a real-time cinematic configurator experience using the latest cloud streaming video game technology. 

It will allow customers to configure their ideal 2023 Outlander PHEV and see it in motion on a photorealistic mountain pass. Customers are able to see what their vehicle could look like as they change colors, trim levels and factory accessories.

Upon completing their choices, customers receive a personalized interactive microsite featuring images and videos of their vehicle, which they can revisit and also share. 

The experience was created in partnership with ZeroLight, a cloud-based, plug-and-play visualization platform that empowers brands to build digital customer experiences, says Kim Ito, Mitsubishi Motors North America’s vice president of marketing.

"Like, MMNA, ZeroLight understands the role that innovation plays in the customer journey,” Ito tells Marketing Daily, "Elevating the customer experience with every iteration — that's so important to us. That's why we continue to partner and push the envelope together.”

One of the key technology breakthroughs that enabled this digital experience is streaming in real time from the cloud, rather than relying on the processing power of the customer’s device to create and display the content. 

“It’s like taking a virtual test drive on your mobile phone,” says Darren Jobling, chief executive officer of ZeroLight. “It's really helping people to understand and get a really great grip of all the unique features that are in the new Outlander.”

The company created a video showing how the experience works. Customers can access the configurator on MMNA’s website. 

Consumers can also create a personalized digital brochure based on their configurations, Ito says. Consumers can make an appointment for a real-life test drive at a local dealership or visit ClickShop, MMNA’s digital retail platform. 

“So there’s quite a few conversion options,” Ito says.

Because the ZeroLight technology is web-based, it is universally accessible and is expected to perform consistently on any device, wherever the user may be. In some cases, this can effectively multiply the device’s processing power by up to 10x.

“It allows us to create these one-to-one relationships with our customers that we wouldn't normally have the opportunity to do, because we have a smaller dealership network or we just have limited marketing dollars relative to other OEMs,” Ito says. “So identifying these opportunities in which we can create these immersive experiences and allow our customers to virtually kick the tires is where we want to focus our efforts.”

During phase one of MMNA’s ZeroLight partnership as part of the launch of the then-new 2022 Outlander SUV, the ZeroLight platform powered interactive real-time 3D experiences that allowed customers to explore their new Outlander in five virtual environments. 

Demand for reservations exceeded expectations, with 75% of the full campaign goal taken within the first 24 hours of debut. By the end of the reservation period, the team had achieved 236% of the reservation goal. 

As part of the recent announcement of its global Midterm Plan, “Challenge 2025,” MMNA’s parent company, Mitsubishi Motors Corp., noted that MMNA will be a global leader in the use of innovative digital tools for sales and marketing. MMNA’s customer experience team was recently integrated into the marketing department.