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VW Skips TV, Promotes GTI via iPhone App

Volkswagen is, not surprisingly, launching a marketing campaign for its upcoming 2010 Volkswagen GTI. What is surprising is that the campaign is rolling out in the form of an iPhone App – and at least for the time being - will be limited to that platform.

The free app, Real Racing GTI, puts players on the fictional Mayapan Beach racetrack. It is tied to a contest in which, the New York Times reports, registered players can win one of six limited-edition GTIs.

Other features of the Firemint-produced app enable users to post racing times to Twitter, add results to Facebook, or rip a video of the race to YouTube.

The strategy is a significant development for adver-gaming, according to Andrew Yoon at Joystiq. Though a car manufacturer using a video game as a promo tool is nothing new, Volkswagen is releasing the free iPhone game in lieu of a traditional advertising campaign. “Don’t expect to see any television commercials for the 2010 GTI - for now, Volkswagen is committed to promoting its new vehicle exclusively through its App Store game,” Yoon says.

The Volkswagen ad illustrates the extent to which gamers are becoming increasingly important to marketers. The Nielsen Company recently added capabilities to its rating software, in fact, to enable advertisers to better identify TV audiences by several new categories, including video gameplay.

The ad-app also points to other trends, namely marketers experimenting with innovative - and lower cost - campaigns to reach this constituency. Volkswagen hopes that through word-of-mouth alone, Real Racing GTI will be able to garner at least two million downloads.

At the beginning of this year, Tim Ellis, vp-marketing at Volkswagen of America’s VW brand, said that car companies will be canceling conventional auto promotions as they “trim the fat” wherever they can while retaining “core media properties and launch budgets.”

Ad spending in the auto category rebounded somewhat in quarter three after record drops in the first half of 2009. Tribune Co., New York Times Co. and Hearst Corp. all said marketing spend from carmakers such as GM and Daimler AG improved in the quarter.

Automakers hacked spending on national ads by 44% in the first half.

Ford Motor Co. is one carmaker to boost ad spend, planning to pump out 15% to 20% more ad dollars in quarter four, compared with the third quarter. “This year, our spending has stabilized and is ticking up,” said Matt VanDyke, Ford’s U.S. marketing director. GM also plans to increase ad spend for the rest of 2009 and for 2010.