Hack the Christmas

Background:
The target audience of video game players who enjoy driving simulation games are men aged 30 to 39, who shop online regularly and spend their Christmas holidays in front of their consoles.

Idea:
The goal of the campaign was to promote the ALD Automotive Italia brand and its newly launched e-commerce platform, by "hacking" Forza Horizon 5, an Xbox-exclusive open-world racing game, which was one of the most popular games during the 2021 Christmas holidays. This was a way to reach the target audience of video game players who are similar to ALD Automotive's target market.

Execution:
In the week leading up to Christmas 2022, motorLAB released custom liveries for Forza Horizon 5, which were inspired by the colours and logo of ALD Automotive Italia. These liveries could be applied to in-game digital cars for free, allowing players to discover the e-commerce platform of the leading company in sustainable mobility solutions and long-term rental.

The campaign leveraged a "bug" in the Forza Horizon 5 livery rules, which did not prevent the reproduction of logos or commercial offers in car customization. As a result, the Forza Horizon 5 community was able to showcase unique liveries in their in-game activities, making ALD Automotive the leader in a real digital word-of-mouth marketing campaign, and making every player an ALD ambassador just racing with their car.