Volkswagen GTI Bannerbahn

The assignment was to create awareness for the new seventh-generation Golf GTI, not with traditional advertising but in an innovative and attention-grabbing way that fits the character of the Golf GTI - a car synonymous with speed and performance. The campaign needed to establish awareness for the new Golf 7 GTI while reinforcing brand perceptions as "sympathetic and innovative."

The target audience was young men with active social networks and an interest in emerging technology - a demographic that responds well to interactive digital experiences rather than passive advertising.

The creative concept was elegantly simple: "Everything revolves around speed - both on asphalt and on the digital highway." The GTI Bannerbahn (Banner Track) was conceived as a race across the largest websites in the Netherlands, physically manifested in the real world.

On September 13, 2013, the new Volkswagen Golf GTI raced at Twente Airport over a massive course of 2,000 square meters featuring life-sized paintings of four major Dutch websites: NU.nl, De Telegraaf, Autoweek, and GeenStijl. Each website was painted at 22 x 24 meters scale.

The artist collective "Kwasten Met De Gasten" spent 5 days recreating the websites as realistically as possible on the asphalt of Twente Airport, using approximately 900 liters of paint.

When the GTI actually raced over this "BannerBahn" in real life, the action was streamed live into the banner ad spaces on those actual websites. The challenge for visitors was to "catch" the GTI in the banner with a single mouse click. The fastest clicker would win a brand new Golf GTI.

The technical development was handled by ThisPage (thispagecannotbefound.com) and Adrime, with close collaboration from media agencies Mediacom and Social Embassy to make the race possible across the biggest websites in the Netherlands.

Key technical challenges and solutions included:

Live Streaming Infrastructure: The race needed to be broadcast in real-time across multiple major Dutch websites simultaneously, synchronized with banner ad placements on NU.nl, De Telegraaf, Autoweek, and GeenStijl.

Drone Camera System: Originally, a cherry picker with a camera on the track was considered, but this proved unsafe. The team opted for streaming cameras mounted on a drone to capture the racing GTI from above - an innovative solution for 2013.

Banner Technology: The team worked together with ThisPage to find the most efficient and stable approach for delivering live video content through banner ad infrastructure across multiple publisher platforms.

Click Detection and Timing: The system needed to accurately capture and timestamp user clicks across multiple websites to determine the winner, while managing high traffic volumes during the live event.

The campaign represented a unique collaboration with Dutch publishers TMG and Sanoma, who provided both editorial and commercial space on their sites to host the Bannerbahn experience over two weeks leading up to and during the event.

The technical team at ThisPage faced several challenges:

• Real-time synchronization: Displaying a live racing event across multiple publisher websites simultaneously
• High-traffic handling: Managing the volume of users attempting to catch the GTI during the live event
• Banner constraints: Delivering rich, interactive live video content within the technical limitations of banner advertising in 2013
• Cross-platform compatibility: Ensuring the experience worked consistently across different publisher platforms and browser environments

The campaign delivered exceptional results:

• 22.5% Click-Through Rate - Extraordinarily high compared to industry averages of 0.2-0.3% for display ads
• 10,000 people successfully "caught" the GTI during the race
• Reached half of the Netherlands an average of five times through the integrated media plan
• Winner: Anton from Hoofddorp achieved the fastest response time and won the grand prize: a brand new Volkswagen Golf GTI

The campaign successfully generated substantial attention and positive reception through its seamless blend of spectacular physical spectacle with engaging digital interaction.