The Sporty Finger Game
- Brand
- Le Coq Sportif
- Year
- 2014
- Objective
- Engagement
- Industry
- Entertainment
- Mechanic
- Racing & Sports
- Platform
- Web
- Agency
- Nedd
Objective
As official jersey supplier for the 2014 Tour de France, Le Coq Sportif needed a way to put its name on the race itself rather than just the riders' backs. Partnering with Orange, the brand built a fan-facing game that let people "ride" the Tour stage by stage for the three weeks of the actual race, using a leaderboard and a Champs-Élysées prize to keep them coming back.
Solution
The player opens the game on a computer and pairs it with a phone, which turns into a bike wheel: pedalling is spinning a finger in circles on the phone screen, and each stage of the game follows the actual 2014 Tour route on a map, with an optional 3D preview of the road ahead. While riding, roadside crowds cheer the player on, feed zones ask them to grab passing fruit for a speed boost, and a puncture stops the bike dead until the player shakes the phone to pump the tyre back up. All 21 stages are raced live against other players, and the running leaderboard carries through to the final ranking, which is what decides the prizes.
- 1
The player opens the game on a computer at sportyfinger.lecoqsportif.com, where the pitch explains that a computer and a smartphone are all it takes to ride in the Tour de France, then links the phone to the computer to pair the two screens before play starts.
- 2
The phone screen becomes the controller: a bicycle wheel that the player spins with circular finger movements on the touchscreen, with spin speed setting riding speed.
- 3
On the computer screen the player's avatar advances in real time along a recreation of the actual 2014 Tour de France route, which can also be explored as a 3D recon.
- 4
Along the route the player passes roadside supporters and reaches feed zones that open a mini-game of collecting fruit, with more fruit gathered translating into a longer speed bonus afterward.
- 5
A puncture can strike mid-ride, prompting the player to shake the phone as fast as possible to pump the tyre back up before continuing.
- 6
The player works through all 21 stages of the Tour, riding against other players on a shared leaderboard.
- 7
The final ranking sets the prizes: the top 50 players win a reward, and first place receives a trip for two to the Tour's Champs-Élysées finish, including flight, two nights' hotel, a yellow jersey and a Le Coq Sportif product kit; entries closed 15 July 2014.
