DDB Sydney

Client: Volkswagen Group Australia
Product: Golf GTI
Title: The Ad Break Championship - GTI Hijack
Media: TV / Digital / Mobile / OOH
Country: Australia
Date Of Campaign: 19/07/2021

Background: We were tasked with launching the latest model of the iconic Volkswagen Golf GTI. A tech-heavy hot-hatch, with a target audience who were primarily younger and tech-savvy. The situation was challenging to say the least. Not only did media data tell us that Australian car brands are the second biggest advertisers on TV, but our media budget was 14 times less than the segment leader. Further research told us that due to an over-saturation of car ads in the market, consumers had grown more weary and less engaged. So, to stand out, we had to completely rethink how we behaved.

Idea: The Ad Break Championship - GTI HijackIn Australia, car brands are the second biggest advertisers on TV. So, to launch the new Golf GTI, we did something to make sure people saw ours - we hijacked the entire ad break and turned a 30 second ad into a 3-minute live gaming platform. We purchased the first ad in prime-time ad breaks and, using a QR code, let people launch an in-browser racing game via their phones. Players raced live against everyone else watching, for the exact length of the ad break. We then hijacked other media everywhere we could, stealing eyeballs from competitors in OOH, digital and social.

Results: The GTI Hijack had a major impact on a budget, in some instances, up to 14 times less than our competitors. We received over 70,000 game sessions, and more than 90,000 visits to the campaign page which was a traffic increase of 97%. The game clocked up over 5,000 hours of active game time, hijacking over 2.7 million dollars in media from other brands whose ads appeared in the same commercial break. We made a major impact on our brand perception, doubling brand metrics for both ‘inspiring’ and ‘exciting’. Dealer call backs went up 436%, stock enquiries went up 97%, and test drives went up 725%. Most importantly, sales of the Golf went up by 55% in our active campaign period, making it the most successful GTI launch ever.