Alfa Romeo’s branded-content environment within football-themed social game I Am Playr has seen 50,000 people create virtual configurations of its MiTo model online.
The car marque launched an online car configurator service within the game, made by We R Interactive, last May as official sponsor of the games fictional River Park football club, along with brands including Nike and Red Bull (nma.co.uk 31 May 2011).
Dwell time within the branded game has risen to an average of 39 minutes per person each day, with 12,000 of Alfa Romeo’s videos viewed within the game per week.
Head of digital for Fiat Group Claudio Annichiarico said the campaign has been so effective because it allows the brand to emulate its offline marketing activity and brand image within the virtual world, which ensures the online activity is relevant to its offline image.
“One of the challenges for a car brand is driving people to the website and then replicating the dealer experience online,” he said. “This was what prompted the idea of the car configurator, which lets users personalise their own MiTo model and ties in with how we position our brand offline. It replicates how we sponsor football teams and promote the car models in real life.”
Alfa Romeo has continued to populate the game with video content that ties in with the football game, to ensure people stay engaged. Sustaining its presence within the game has helped it reach a new demographic, according to Annichiarico.
Once users access the online car configurator they can then import the model they have designed to appear in the game.
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