The driving force behind the new Porsche digital brand experience

The Porsche brand has been one of the most well-known in both the automotive and luxury markets over the past 50 years. However a reputation that was built in the 20th century didn’t guarantee success in building a digital brand experience fit for the 21st century.  

From internal training to customer engagement

The Porsche AR Visualiser app evolved from five years of building the digital brand experience, first as an internal human resources training tool, then as an immersive engagement with the history, brand and vehicle marketing of Porsche. 

The internal digital training experience was developed by 8th Wall, a software platform that allows interactive web-based augmented reality (WebAR) and virtual reality (WebVR) experiences to operate on mobile devices, and innovation.rocks, which builds and implements AR and VR content solutions. Innovation.rocks is familiar with the luxury auto sector as it has a client list that includes Porsche, Audi and Bentley.

“[The Porsche AR Visualiser app] started as a native app for onboarding new employees,” said innovation.rocks CTO Felipe Sequerra. “Now the Porsche brand can be experienced digitally with a solution that works on 90% of mobile devices.” 

The Porsche WebAR activation took the best practices learned from its internal implementation and used them as a foundation for consumer engagement.

“[The app] gives users the ability to actively experience Porsche’s brand story,” said 8th Wall CEO Erik Murphy-Chutorian. “The brand achieves a deeper and more meaningful connection to customers through this process of immersion. Customers are allowed to explore and learn about the company in a way that is natural, engaging and memorable.” 

The Porsche experience

The Porsche digital brand experience on the AR Visualiser app is separated into three distinct basic chapters—past, present and future—led by an avatar, a Porsche employee.  The past is a review of the brand history, the present showcases current vehicles and the future reviews innovation opportunities and advancement within Porsche.

The platform’s origin as an internal onboarding tool allowed for the reuse of many assets, starting with the ‘host’ avatar that serves as a guide throughout the entire digital experience. 

“The investment up front for a high quality experience for employees as an internal training tool really paid off when we had to reuse the assets,” said Sequerra. “We used a past internal project with the Porsche Cayenne to promote the new Cayenne to the external audience.”

To compliment showcasing the new luxury vehicles to sales prospects, the animated 3D avatar had many new features developed or enhanced, including automation for more movement and interaction with consumers, and enhanced speech capabilities.

For consumers interested in purchasing more than the past, present or future of the Porsche brand, the WebAR platform allows the user to place a Porsche in their real-time environment. Users can also sit in a virtual Porsche, or even take a quiz on the history of the brand. 

“Creating the new chapters of content was definitely the biggest challenge of this process,” said Sequerra. “There was a lot of learning involved but we kept the architecture quite modular so we can expand in the future and add experiences based on consumer demand and corporate direction.” 

Future corporate direction includes working with new vehicle models, covering innovations and technology. The digital experience is also built to scale as consumer demand continues to grow.

Whether behind the wheel or the digital experience, Porsche wants their audience to drive away with a clear concept of their history, luxury and innovation.

This story first appeared on MarTech Today.

About The Author

Rodric Bradford

Rodric J. Bradford is the Editor of MarTech Today and has worked in the marketing technology industry as both a journalist and corporate project manager. Prior to joining MarTech Today Bradford served as Convention and Technology Beat Reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Business Press publication and worked as Technology Reporter for Global Gaming Business, the world’s largest casino publication. In the corporate world Bradford has served as Technology Project Manager for CNA, Cigna, General Dynamics and Philip Morris. Bradford is an alumnus of the University of Missouri-Columbia.