Race The Sun
- Brand
- Land Rover
- Year
- 2013
- Objective
- Product Launch
- Industry
- Automotive
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Q Department
- With
- MJZ
- With
- Wunderman NY
- With
- Y&R New York
- With
- Stink Studios
Objective
Land Rover USA created the project to launch the 2014 Range Rover Sport (starting at $63,495) and build awareness and consideration among an affluent, digitally minded audience. The brand was shifting more of its marketing budget into digital — from 15% to over 35% within three years — on the premise that well-off buyers start car research online. The aim was to let people experience the car's acceleration, handling and off-road ability firsthand inside an entertaining format, pulling them further into researching the model.
Solution
At racethesun.landroverusa.com, the viewer watches a 2:30 cinematic film, shot in Northern California and Nevada, about a man racing to reach his destination before sunset. Before the story begins, they get a 360-degree walk-around of the new Range Rover Sport's interior and exterior. To play, they sync a phone to the browser using an on-screen code, turning the phone into a steering wheel they tilt, tap and swipe to steer (or they can use a keyboard on desktop). Three times during the film, the story breaks into a driving sequence where the viewer has to keep pace with the car and driver through the terrain. At the end of the run, they're given a score and an achievement level based on how well they kept up.
- 1
Players arrive at racethesun.landroverusa.com and choose how to play: pairing a smartphone to the main screen with an on-screen code, or controlling the action from a keyboard.
- 2
The film opens on a climber interrupted by a phone call issuing a challenge to reach a destination before sundown, establishing the race-against-the-clock premise that frames the whole story.
- 3
Before the race begins, players get a 360-degree look at the Range Rover Sport 2014, rotating the view to examine its interior and exterior.
- 4
The film periodically hands control to the player for short driving episodes, steered by tilting, tapping and swiping the paired phone or using the keyboard: one episode tests off-road handling, another tests acceleration, and a third tests cornering on asphalt.
- 5
These game episodes alternate with uninterrupted film footage of the car racing through wilderness and onto asphalt toward the setting sun, and the player must keep pace with the on-screen driver throughout.
- 6
At the story's end, players see a summary showing points scored and an achievement level based on their performance across all the driving episodes.
