In their own words Toyota’s new RAV4 “is built for outdoor adventurers”. So instead of browsing their website online. At your desk. With a mouse. Why not browse it on a 1.8km track on a mountain bike? If you like bikes and tech I’m sure you’ll appreciate this innovative campaign. Take a look…
The new Toyota RAV4 is built for outdoor adventurers – the kind of guys who spend their weekends hiking and cycling, and not behind their computer screens surfing the net. But if they’re on the mountain biking trails, how will they explore Toyota’s new RAV4 website? Unless of course, Toyota takes the website to them. Which is exactly what Toyota did with the help of their award-winning agencies, Hellocomputer and Draftfcb.
On a 1,8km cycle track at the Bryanston Cycle Park, they literally built a real-life RAV4 Outdoor Website, which not only looked like the online version, but behaved like it too. So, cyclists could use their mountain bike as a cursor, and navigate through the unique selling points of the new RAV4 in their environment.
The Tech. The Tools. The Tricks.
As per the online website, the outdoor version was built with the help and technical skills of thingking. The course was divided into the models, safety, design, interior and book a test drive sections. It also had some other quirky online additions like loading bars, a refresh button (that sprayed water at the cyclists), and a competition. But what made this website so unique, other than the fact it was all built out of natural materials and stood 20ft high along kilometres of dirt track, is that the innovative tech used actually made it act like a website.
For example, as the cyclists moved from one section to the next, they triggered infrared motion sensors that highlighted the section they were in on the browser bar. In each section, cyclists were given a choice of buttons, that when selected, would use pumps, motors and other hacked appliances (even a leaf blower) to load the chosen content. They were also able to Tweet along the way by hitting the wooden Twitter icons.
At the end of the track, cyclists collected a “test drive and win” ticket that instantly printed out from a tree stump. They were then able to continue to adventure in a real RAV4 in the car park.
The real-life RAV4 Outdoor Website also went online so that all other weekend warriors could have an adventure of their own. Between 9 and 5, of course.
“Toyota wanted to introduce South Africa to the all-new RAV4 in a bold and dynamic way and the world’s first-ever outdoor website delivered by Hellocomputer is just that,” Toyota’s Senior Manager of Marketing Communications and Planning, and outdoorsy guy, Pieter Klerck said.
thats awesome, anyone know if its still setup to perform like a web site or if it was for a specific day only?