Topgear.com builds brand interaction and engagement for Michelin

Challenge

To achieve visibility, stand-out and brand engagement among potential car buyers for the launch of Michelin’s new energy saver tyres.

Campaign

To create a campaign across traditional display formats on key areas of topgear.com as well as a competition and interactive game to engage users and encourage interaction with the Michelin brand.

Execution

Michelin sponsored the topgear.com news page, which included a bespoke ad feature placement for the client.

The ad feature placement linked through to an advertorial featuring a competition that gave users the opportunity to find out more about Michelin energy saver tyres and offering a chance to win an in-car satellite navigation system and a £500 cash prize.

A Michelin-branded competition built brand engagementCombined with an MPU placement on the homepage as well as editorial and feature spots, Michelin had clear visibility and prominence on key areas of topgear.com throughout the course of the campaign.

A unique car racing game was also created to tie in with the campaign, similar to the Top Gear TV show feature ‘Star Laps’, where each week a celebrity completes a timed lap around the infamous Top Gear test track to become a ‘star in a reasonably priced car’.

The ‘Star Laps’ game got users interacting with the Michelin brandThe online simulator game accelerated driving speeds in real time, making finishing times comparable to celebrities featured on the Top Gear TV show.

This added a fantastic competitive edge to the game, and as users raced to complete laps, they passed Michelin hoardings on the way. Sponsorship and in-game branding made Michelin an integral part of the gaming experience.

The Results

Competing to beat the stars and each other gave the ‘Star Laps’ game a high level of playability, as users raced at record speeds for the top spot!

• There were over 437,000 plays over a 6 week period, not including repeat plays
• With repeat plays included, this figure increased to 2 million
• With more than 300,000 users interacting with the Michelin brand for an average of 12 minutes each, the game provided an indisputably high level of brand engagement for the client

Working alongside this, the display and advertorial mechanics informed users about Michelin’s energy saver tyres and gave Michelin a strong presence on topgear.com throughout the course of the campaign, achieving visibility, standout and brand engagement for potential car buyers.