We can buy a new car on the phone, and virtual reality and mobile gaming will help us do it
In 2021, Toyota and Lexus are preparing a strong expansion of online tools so customers can buy a car without leaving home. Global automotive brands are trying to keep up with new consumer needs dictated by the pandemic. From a study conducted by AdColony for Mobiem (AdColony study, 2020.) The new generation of AirPods and changes in Apple Music show that Poles are also more and more willing to buy cars 100 percent. over the Internet. The mobile industry is now changing rapidly, and the biggest and experienced players know where to look for potential customers online and are increasingly bold in entering the world of mobile gaming. So Ford hired a video game developer to design a new pick up model, and asked gamers to help create a car called the Ford of Europe. There will be more and more forms of combining virtual reality with real purchase decisions. Today, the customer is found in e-commerce channels, and mobile gaming users are an increasingly powerful group of digital consumers.
Proclaiming predictions about the growth of the e-commerce segment is now becoming a given. Over the past few pandemic months, the retail shopping market has changed and that’s a fact. We are buying more online – including using smartphones – and the online shopping sector will have high ratings this year as well, and with many active consumers online retail will remain as a convenient habit for a long time. This market will grow and this is no longer a revolution. However, what goods we will be ordering with our cell phone in the near future may be interesting – comments Michał Giera, CEO, Mobiem Polska – It turns out that buying a passenger car in br. 46% plan to implement innovative IT solutions. of Poles asked about it (Wallets of Poles under a magnifying glass, 2020 survey.). Surprising? No, but one in four of them wants to conclude such a transaction exclusively with the help of online tools, rather than in person, by visiting a car showroom or meeting with a broker, and this is a prognosis worth noting. For the auto industry, this is important data because it shows a whole new consumer behavior. This is an opportunity to read the needs and expectations of potential buyers and find them on the Internet, among others, in social media, thematic services and through advertising in mobile gaming – Michał Pietruszka, Head of Mobile Product, Mobiem Polska
Mobile gaming will support winning strategies
Toyota, Skoda and Volkswagen are the most popular brands of new cars in 2020 (Automotive Market Research Institute SAMAR).). Sales growth was also recorded by, among others, Lexus. Automotive companies, which did best during the economic slowdown, are investing bigger and bigger budgets in digital activities. They mainly communicate with their customers online, because this is what digital consumers expect. Toyota has introduced SmarthPath technology, which is to be a complete customer experience path leading to 100% car purchase. online, giving internet users a personalized offer process over which they have full control. Lexus is to roll out a similar service among its dealers in 2021. Their program is called Monogram and its task is to contact people interested in presentation of brand models and purchase of a particular vehicle fully online. On the other hand, if you want to buy a new Volkswagen but have no intention of showing up at a dealership, the manufacturer has prepared a Sign Anywhere solution that supports digital document signing. Why all this?
The pandemic has only accelerated the trend of an increasing shift towards fulfilling shopping needs on a digital level, and we’re no longer just talking about ordering cosmetics, clothes or food. Over the Internet and without leaving home we are willing to make more and more valuable financial transactions. The biggest automotive brands are smoothly and nimbly adapting to this trend. The Polish customer is also changing. Car buying survey, AdColony, 2020.) indicate that we search for information about new cars using a smartphone. This was the response of more than 53 percent. researched. More than 60% of. Toyota’s SmarthPath technology allows customers to find out details about a vehicle’s technical specifications and compare prices. Almost every third Pole bought his car completely over the Internet. As interest in digital purchasing of high-value goods grows significantly, automotive companies are moving their promotions online, including an increasingly bold commitment to mobile gaming Michał Giera, Mobiem Polska
The situation is different for trucks. – Nowadays, almost all manufacturers have a configurator available on their websites, where you can create a tailor-made virtual truck equipped with various facilities. The whole process, however, does not aim for a direct purchase, but encourages us to save the chosen configuration and leave a contact for the dealer. When it comes to buying cars online – especially trucks, which companies often purchase in multiples – the process has been hampered so far by high price volatility. Moreover, an almost inseparable element of the purchase of this type of vehicle is still the possibility to test the vehicle live, e.g. in terms of fuel consumption. On the other hand, all formalities related to the purchase of trucks have been made much easier. Especially in leasing companies, where contracts contain several dozen pages, it is possible to finalize the transaction e.g. via electronic signature – says Tomasz Czyż, an expert from INELO Group, a software developer for transport companies.
Mobile marketing need for speed
Does this mean that automotive brands will now outdo each other in online activities aimed at potential customers? Probably so, but standard forms of promotion may not be enough. Today’s customers are informed and experienced users of the global web who expect precise but creative messages. What’s more, they increasingly turn to mobile tools when starting the purchasing process. 58 percent. of people surveyed by AdColony read online reviews of car models on their phone displays, and more than half admit that a well-designed mobile ad could entice them to decide to buy a specific car brand. If the so-called. advertisements on the phone meet with the audience’s liking, then also promotion in mobile gaming is worth attention, especially in the case of the automotive industry.
Computer games improve brain multitasking, experts say. Research at the University of California, San Francisco, for example, has shown that the NeuroRacer game can help train attention, reaction speed or short-term memory. In this 3D video game, players control a car with their left hand on winding and hilly tracks. They also have to watch out for the signs that appear. Some of them need to be shot down using the fingers of your right hand. Training multitasking skills is in line with the philosophy of many car brands, which could use this type of game to show players their technological solutions implemented in real vehicles. However, in other competitions that we undertake on mobile tools we count above all on emotions, and here brands such as BMW or Porsche are already blazing trails in in-game-advertising, strengthening their image in the consciousness of players of a specific entertainment – in this case, Need For Speed. An interesting advertisement was designed by Volkswagen, which provided participants in a popular entertainment game with an extra card in exchange for watching a short film about the VW Golf 8. The results of this campaign are impressive, especially when you look at the Video Completion Rate of 93 percent.
Why mobile promotion works? Our research shows that more than half of consumers would consider watching a video or interacting with a video on a mobile device to learn more about a particular car model and its features. Auto-moto ads are among the most viewed content on the Internet, and through marketing activities in the mobile gaming segment we reach a carefully selected group of consumers we call casual gamers who like to click on non-invasive ads while having fun playing games on their smartphones says Michał Pietruszka, Mobiem Polska.
Destination – social gaming
Specialists in the automotive and video game industries agree that everything that surrounds us is like reality in a computer game. Perhaps that’s why Ford is designing the Team Fordzilla P1 – a car dedicated to gamers, while at the same time hiring an experienced video game designer in the real world to create the Ford -150. Mark Sich argues that video games speed up visualization, and that this is exactly the approach needed in modern vehicles. Perhaps that is why the American pickup has been the best-selling Ford model in recent times, and customers order it online without a test drive or a visit to the showroom. Games have an impact on imagination, as do well-prepared advertisements in mobile gaming.
