Tata Sumo Gold's 2013 relaunch used a voice-controlled virtual test drive in a web banner to let users experience the SUV on different terrains. The campaign reached 8 million people, achieved a 2.3% conversion rate to test drives (200 times the industry average), and generated twice the expected requests.
Tata Sumo was considered to be a commercial SUV with a small-town appeal. The task: we had to change this perception to bring Tata Sumo back into the consideration set of the young urban audience and generate 2,000 test drives. In 2013, Tata Sumo made a comeback with its new variant called Tata Sumo Gold, positioning itself as the unstoppable. The new Tata Sumo Gold highlighted 4 of its redesign features to showcase differentiation against competition. The challenge: we evaluated several campaigns in the automobile category and found that the maximum drop-offs happened between ad exposures to actual test drives. People develop preferences for a car only after they test drive one. SUV owners would ideally like to test drive the vehicle on multiple terrains but have geographical limitations due to proximity to such terrains. The solution we developed: a first-ever IVR-prompted virtual simulated test drive within a single banner. The virtual experience allowed our audience to test the Tata Sumo Gold on multiple challenging terrains, experiencing the features. The execution: web banners challenged users to stop the unstoppable Tata Sumo Gold. User experience was enhanced through advanced voice recognition technology that unfolded when the banner was connected to their mobile phones through an IVR. Once connected to the banner, users could now put the Tata Sumo Gold to the ultimate terrain test. The uniqueness of the banner lay in the ability to load default terrains based on the user's geolocation, based on operator circle targeting. Results: 8 million+ users across various geographies in India were exposed to this unique web and mobile integrated experience. The overall consideration levels for Tata Sumo Gold post this campaign went up by 7%. Against the industry average conversion rate of 0.01% from exposure to test drive, our campaign yielded 2.3% more. Test drive requests were 2 times of what was anticipated. Google DoubleClick added the campaign in their best creative case studies, appreciating a first-of-its-kind creative execution in India in the auto category by far, thereby bringing Tata Sumo Gold back in the game.
