VOLKSWAGEN has made a radical departure from its normal TV advertising with a campaign that allows viewers to participate in a live digital racing game tournament.

Access to the ‘Golf Ad Break Championship’ is via ad breaks on Channel Ten and Fox shows that allow people into the race game via a QR code that takes them to the tournament.

Viewers then select their Volkswagen Golf GTI and their preferred racetrack. Each player is ranked on a board and those who meet the qualifying time go into the draw to win a real Golf GTI.

The campaign promotes Volkswagen’s new Golf Mk8 range and was devised by ad agency DDB Group Sydney and fellow Omnicom agency, PHD.

The premise of the campaign is: “Why watch ads when you can play them?”

It launched this week via the QR code during The Project on Ten. Following this race, further rounds will be held on July 26, August 2, 9, 14 and 21 across Ten, Fox Sports, and Kayo.

The concept for using gaming as an advertising platform follows a report from advertising and marketing technology company InMobi that reported that, tied to COVID and lockdowns, Australians had experienced a gaming boom during 2020.

It said that the increased “need to relax and be entertained” was stated as the most important factor in smartphone users turning to gaming. It said 85 per cent of gamers play on their smartphones.

In an interview with media publisher Mumbrella, DDB creative director Tommy Cehak said the idea came about after noting the pandemic had made Australian life “a lot more predictable and a lot duller for many”.

“The planner came up with this observation that some ridiculous percentage of us feel that work gets in the way of spontaneity and variety in life, but this Golf range is this fun-to-drive vehicle that takes the boredom out of life,” Mr Cehak said.

“The team came up with the idea of it being this antidote to the everyday… and what’s the most everyday thing we all come across? That would be the ad break.

“I think we’ve seen targeting with regards to the second screen for a number of years now, but I think in terms of interacting with what we’re seeing on our own screens we’ve really just sort of hit the tip of the iceberg.”

Mr Cehak said that consumers can see the creativity Volkswagen is producing in their advertising.

“It’s part of a broader platform, which is this idea that ‘life feels better in a Volkswagen’,” he said in the Mumbrella interview.

“This is definitely how we positioned the Golf, and you’ve seen us position the Tiguan as well.”

Volkswagen Australia brand manager Hayley Phillips said the company was always looking for “ways to breakthrough in a cluttered market and do something that stands out”.

“Bringing the new Golf to market is an important milestone for us, and the idea behind Golf Ad Break Championship provided us the perfect platform to launch the icon and get people involved and excited with us,” she said.

The Golf Ad Break Championships form one aspect of Volkswagen’s overall advertising campaign for the new Golf range titled ‘The Everyday Escape’.

By Neil Dowling