From Virtual Reality to Room Games: How Auto Marketing is changing in the Age of Experience

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We’re fervent believers that the Experience Economy is a huge change agent for companies. That’s why the Ford Motor Company’s announcement of their collaboration with Escape the Room, a popular experiential game, caught our eye.  “Escape NYC: An Escape the Room Driving Experience” will be an innovative gaming experience that will challenge users to solve puzzles using features from the 2017 Ford Escape, taking place from June 23-26 in Moynihan Station in Midtown Manhattan. The creator of the project, Victor Blake, crafted the experience for players to attempt to escape multiple rooms in Moynihan Station, one of New York’s most emblematic structures. Ginger Kasanic, Ford’s experiential marketing manager said of the development: “Younger, urban consumers today want to live through experiences and engage with brands that represent their lifestyle. They are voracious consumers of life – they’re not spectators, they’re participants. Escape the Room NYC can be summed up as the experience economy trend putting a unique spin on the traditional test drive.”

Dassault Systèmes is very excited about this marketing development within the automotive industry. Just last week, we hosted the 4th annual Automotive Tech Day in collaboration with Ford Motor Company at their conference and event center in Dearborn, Michigan.  There, we discussed several different topics regarding the future of the automobile, including how the Experience Economy is changing marketing in the auto industry.

For example, Dassault Systèmes is working with automakers to change the test drive and the overall car buying experience. This past March we unveiled the Virtual Garage at our Geneva International Motor Show this past March. Rather than having the shows attendees sit in the actual car to try it out, Virtual Garage demonstrated the car using Virtual Reality. Attendees were given a HTC Vive headset and a joystick so they could virtually view, explore and interact with the new DS 3 automobile. See it for yourself in the video below.

With live promotions such as Ford’s and virtual reality experiences, how we buy cars is changing dramatically. What innovations do you think we’ll see next?

Visit our 3DS Virtual Garage page for more information and a look into what the future of virtual reality looks like.

Ariel Sussman

Digital Marketing Intern at Dassault Systemes
Ariel is a currently a junior at the University of Connecticut majoring in journalism and communications. You can find her writing passion pieces on any and all subjects, watching episodes of Friends while snuggling with her Portuguese Water Dog Shadow, and drinking Dunkin Donuts iced coffee. She hopes to one day have stamps in her passport from all human-inhabited continents.