GT RIDE
- Brand
- Kia
- Year
- 2013
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Automotive
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- App
- Agency
- Artificial Rome
- With
- LA RED
Objective
The pro_cee'd GT was Kia's first high-performance model, and it meant reaching a buyer the brand had never talked to in this segment: young, always online, and deep into gaming. Kia wanted this audience to feel the car's speed and precision firsthand rather than watch it in an ad, and to have them spread the word to friends on their own.
Solution
GT RIDE is a free racing app for phone and tablet where the player builds the track before they can race it. They wave the device through the air for about ten seconds, and the motion becomes a personal 3D circuit, complete with rises, drops and tunnels shaped by how they moved. The moment the track is ready, they race it themselves in a pro_cee'd GT, steering by tilting the phone left and right. When the run ends, the track saves and posts to Facebook as a challenge, daring friends to beat the same course. The game works the same way on iOS, Android, the GT RIDE website and inside Facebook.
Results
The app was downloaded more than 200,000 times worldwide, over 160,000 of those in its first eleven months. Players built a GT RIDE community of more than 30,000 people on Facebook, created over 80,000 unique tracks between them, and raced those tracks roughly 300,000 times.
- 1
Players download GT RIDE for free from the App Store or Google Play, or open it directly on the GT RIDE website or Facebook, and accept the terms on the opening screen.
- 2
From the main menu, the player selects CREATE TRACK, then CREATE NOW, and is prompted to pick up the phone as motion recording begins.
- 3
For about ten seconds, the player waves the smartphone freely through the air, sketching a route by hand while the device's motion sensor records the trajectory.
- 4
The app converts the recorded gesture into a custom 3D race track, complete with rises, drops, and tunnels, and presents the finished course.
- 5
The player taps RACE THIS TRACK to drive the newly created course behind the wheel of a Kia pro_cee'd GT, starting after an on-screen countdown.
- 6
While racing, the player steers by tilting the phone left and right, with current speed and time shown on screen; white arrows on the track boost the car, while drifting to the edge slows it down.
- 7
At the finish, the player's time is recorded and can be saved with SAVE TRACK.
- 8
The saved track can be sent as a challenge to friends on Facebook, who then race the same course to compete for the best time.
- 9
Play continues across devices and platforms — smartphone, tablet, the GT RIDE website, and Facebook — on both iOS and Android worldwide.
- 10
During the campaign's first phase, playing automatically enters the player into a sweepstakes for a real, limited-edition Kia pro_cee'd GT 1st Edition.
