The Kia Motors Corporation, a division of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, has extended its “A new way to roll” campaign for social networks by creating a new augmented reality game for Facebook to help promote the Kia Soul.
The new game is based on the creative from the TV spot, which features animated hamsters dressed up in hip-hop clothes racing around in the Kia Soul. The campaign, which includes TV ads and a microsite, was created by digital marketing agency Initiative and creative agency David & Goliath.
To create the game, the agencies teamed up with software services firm Total Immersion. The game is an augmented reality effort, which lets consumers literally put themselves into the online racing game, through a Web cam. In the game, the player can race around with the Kia Soul hip-hop hamsters through the D’Fusion@Home Facebook application, called “Go Hamster Go!”
The application lets the player control the game with his or her face — a virtual magnet “connects” to the player’s forehead using a a webcam. The player uses this interface to interact with the hamsters and race the car.
The object of the game is to reunite the hamsters with the Kia Soul car, and when the user does so, the Soul turns the color of the hamster’s t-shirt. These colors are based on actual Kia Soul colors available.
To create a viral element and share with peers, players can post their score onto their own Facebook wall.
