Teaser banner ads will appear on youtube.com to promote the Volvo S60 Augmented Reality Driving Game. For a car that is sold on being safe, Volvo rarely plays it safe when it comes to advertising, as demonstrated by a campaign to get under way on Saturday.
In addition to its mainstream campaigns in media like television and magazines, Volvo, owned by the Chinese automaker Geely, has been among the most experimental of the automotive marketers in trying to figure out what works — and does not work — in new media.
For instance, in 2005, Volvo commissioned a racing video game for the Microsoft Xbox system. And two years later, Volvo sponsored a series of humorous webisodes on msn.com about a make-believe driving school.
The next effort in new media is for the new Volvo S60 sports sedan. Volvo and its agency, Team Volvo, part of Havas, are joining forces with the YouTube unit of Google for a campaign centered on augmented reality.
Teaser banner ads that are to start appearing on youtube.com will promote what is officially called the Volvo S60 Augmented Reality Driving Game. There will also be a contest — lasting one day, Saturday — that incorporates Android and the iPhone along with YouTube, with an iPad as a prize.
Consumers will be invited to download the game applications to their iPhones or Android devices, then play the game on Saturday. The apps, which are free, function only in tandem with YouTube.
One reason that Volvo makes forays into new media is that “there’s more buzz, chatter, when we do these things,” said Linda Gangeri, national advertising manager at Volvo Cars of North America in Rockleigh, N.J.
Another reason is that innovating in media is meant to represent “innovation to move our brand forward,” she added.
There is a third reason for Volvo’s willingness to try new media, according to Ms. Gangeri.
“It’s important not just because it’s cool,” she said. “Our budgets are a lot less than our competitors’,” meaning that campaigns in new media, which often have lower price tags than those in traditional media, “allow us to do more for less.”
There are, of course, potential problems with ads that run in new media.
“Innovation inherently contains a lot more risk than traditional advertising,” said John Steward, creative director at Euro RSCG New York, part of Euro RSCG Worldwide, which is one of the agencies that belongs to Team Volvo.
“Yes, certain things will be more successful than others,” Mr. Steward said. “So we make sure it’s a calculated risk.”
For instance, the Volvo S60 campaign will appear in what YouTube calls a masthead ad, which is a large display unit at the top of a page — hard to miss or ignore.
Another risk is that Volvo, Team Volvo and YouTube are counting on consumers to want to take a couple of steps: download the apps at the iPhone App Store or the Android Market and then play the game.
“The payoff is an entertainment experience at the end of it,” Mr. Steward said, so the hopes are high that the participation rate will also be high.
There are other new-media elements to the S60 campaign, including social media and search. Traditional media is represented with television and print ads.
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