" The new Volkswagen nternet advertising emphasizes this interactivity and is truly geared (pun intended) to those who are not only used to a rich format, but expect it. The website comes up, and users see the VW driving along a road with the background changing in animated form. In addition to being able to read standard specifications, users can actually "build" a car. For example, they can see what their new Beetle will look like in different colors, transmissions and interiors. They can also determine the price of the car based on the specific options presented. Then, one can sign up to take a joy ride at a nearby dealer.

Volkswagen's high interactivity online exemplifies its move toward marketing to a younger demographic. This same strategy is being used with the banner ads for the Jetta safety campaign. In conjunction with the "Safe Happens" campaign in television commercials, these web banners leave the target audience with the one, clear message, "The Volkswagen Jetta ranks high in crash testing." The banners have lead to a sales jump. In the pop up, users in Pop up, users see a demonstration of Jetta's four-star rating crash safety, as the car goes into the priceline.com vacation offer. In the Pull-Down Crash Banner, viewers see a surprise demonstration of Jetta's safety features. When scrolling, they create a crash test. In Shopping Cart, users unexpectedly see a Jetta drive up, tilt the banner, and cause the shopping cart icon from another nearby banner to roll into the front of the Jetta.

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The originator of the GTI build site and joy ride, which allows the user to build and then drive in his/her newly...

It had to be an immersive interactive experience with both the brand and the car. An experience that was fun, focused and echoed the quality and innovation that comes with a pre-tuned, German-engineered GTI MkV.
A big goal of ours was to develop assets that let the car's intrinsic value speak for itself from a purely visual perspective Volkswagen has so many great accessories and we wanted people to be able to have fun with their creation and see as many options as possible.

We looked around. Everywhere. Not just in the automotive world, but at all customization engines. Volkswagen drivers are among the most tech-savvy on the road. Delivering an interactive experience that was anything less than what we came up with would have been, in essence, ignoring our audience's needs and desires. So we set out to design a next-generation configurator that looked great, was easy-to-use, got more people to the dealers and let them virtually experience what it was like to be behind the wheel of their very own customized creation. In total, there are over 600,000 possibilities,

We also created a technical infrastructure that's able to support the relatively easy and efficient addition of future models and interactive features. For me, though, the magic really happens when you hit Watch My Joyride and are instantly greeted by a film featuring your customized car. The speed and seamlessness of the transition between configure and watch was instrumental in delivering this high-quality interactive experience.

Winston Binch