Our idea was to focus this campaign on the skill and experience of the Forza fanbase (who have gotten better and better with each new edition of the game) and to provide them with an opportunity to show off their abilities to the world.

We knew fans of the Forza Motorsport series were people who liked to compete and to win, so we created the ultimate challenge for them: the chance to race in the game against the times set by two legends, car racing driver Romain Grosjean, one of the fastest drivers in the world, and Head of Xbox Phil Spencer, who is a legend on the Xbox scene, for the chance of scoring the ultimate bragging rights.

All stages of the campaign would be promoted on social media, and fans would be encouraged to engage and share their experiences.

Implementation:

Spencer and Grosjean used the 2015 Lotus F1 Team’s E23 Hybrid on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium. The result was impressive: 2 minutes 00.343 seconds for Spencer and 1 minute 57.703 seconds for Grosjean. Fans were challenged to try to beat Spencer and Grosjean using the same vehicle and track and encouraged to take a photo of the screen showing their victory (if they succeeded) and share it on social media for the ultimate bragging rights.

The desire to race fast is universal amongst gamers and the wide appeal of F1 made it the perfect partner for this truly global program originating from the Asia region.

Timeline:

September and October

Placement:

40 countries took part in the challenge and the race was broadcasted to over 100 countries. Also Xbox.com, Xbox social media channels, in game, television and on-track marketing.

Scale:

Campaign budget was $150,000, including agency fees

The launch of Forza Motorsport 6 was far and away the most effective in the history of the Forza series and the campaign was a thundering success. Although only 5% of fans succeeded in beating the experts, the excitement surrounding the challenge was palpable.

- 40% uplift in sales (exceeding client objectives by 10%)

- Record-breaking fan engagement as it had the highest participation of any challenge in the history of Forza Motorsport 6. There are approximately 100 challenges globally and this program is #1.

- 20 million viewers watched Grosjean’s Xbox-inspired Lotus on the track at the Singapore Formula One